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Organization	Rebuilding Alliance
Region	Palestine
Website	Website
Facebook	Facebook
Twitter	@Twitter
ProjectLeader	Donna Baranski-walker

DONATE

In 2002, Israel's Army promised to stop their live-fire training in the Palestinian village of Al Aqaba so Mayor Haj Sami Sadeq invited villagers to come home. Rebuilding Alliance helped him build the Al Haq Kindergarten, the beating heart of this village. Please continue Mayor Haj Sami's legacy: give 150 kindergarteners a great education & healthy breakfast! Add speech therapy & music lessons at the Ibn Rush'd Library and launch Haj Sami's bookmobile for children throughout the Jordan Valley.

Challenge

Mayor Haj Sami's kindergarten brings children from Al Aqaba & nearby towns to learn in a wonderful school with experienced teachers. In 2008, when Israel's High Court ruled 'for the time being, the center of the village will remain standing', Mayor Haj Sami made this the first Palestinian village in Area C to issue its own building permits. Covid-19 created a financial crisis, as villagers w/o jobs cannot afford tuition. Ensuring the kindergarten's viability is more important than ever.

Long-Term Impact

In 1972, when Mayor Haj Sami was 16 years old, he was hit by three bullets fired by an Israeli soldier during a training exercise. In his long recuperation, as he learned to manage as a paraplegic, he decided that no one, neither Palestinian nor Israeli, should ever suffer this fate. His first priority has always been to keep the children and his village safe, as he led all to stand up for their human rights with honesty, kindness, creativity, and perseverance. This is his wonderful legacy.