Fund Raiser for Summer Children’s Camp – Beit Ummar, West Bank, Palestine

Children of Beit Ummar

Dear Friends,

Once again, our small but active group in Colorado – Center for Freedom and Justice – Colorado has started a fund drive to raise funds for our sister organization – the Center for Freedom and Justice in Beit Ummar, West Bank, Palestine.

Last year, we were able to raise more than $4000 that went for buying book bags for elementary school students in Beit Ummar. The project was a success. I can’t tell you how appreciative the kids in Beit Ummar were to receive these useful items, and how thrilled we, of the Colorado committee were that our friends and relatives, many with little or no connection to the Palestinian situation came forth with their generosity.

Again, I thank you.

Our Colorado committee has approved another project – helping fund a summer camp for the children of Beit Ummar, call ed Summer Discovery Camp for 70 students (ages 9-14) to introduce them to technology, give them a fun experience and provide greatly needed relief from the Occupation.

At the camp the children will be divided into small groups and given kits consisting of a laptop computer and devices to teach programming (over 50% of the children in Palestinian schools have no access to computers). The groups will try to build robots. Field and swimming trips will be the reward the children get for their work.

At the end of the Camp the children will showcase their accomplishments by hosting an exhibition for their parents, principals and teachers.

• Help from others gives the children hope that they are not alone
• We rely on the generous contributions of supporters like you to fund the Summer Discovery Camp. This time we (in Colorado) are trying to raise $4000 for the following:

5 Laptop Computers                                        $1900

Snacks, Swimming and Field Trip                   $1700

Materials, Exhibition Day and other Costs    $ 400

TOTAL    $4000

The children of Beit Ummar live in an impoverished community where 60% of the adult population is unemployed. The town is surrounded by six Israeli settlements and has been under military occupation since 1967. Children face the horrors of night-time raids and a constant fear their houses will be demolished or that they or members of their family will be taken away. One-third of all Palestinian children incarcerated in Israeli prisons come from Beit Ummar. The traumas these children have experienced cannot be adequately described.

To contribute, please make checks payable to CFJ Colorado and mail to 1727 E. 25^th Ave, Denver CO, 80205 or donate online at https:www.gofundme.com/a-summer-camp-for-children-in-beit-ummar.

To learn more about the situation in Beit Ummar, visit our Facebook page at Center for Freedom and Justice- Colorado (http://www.facebook.com/CFJColorado).