South Hebron Hills, Susiya
Today’s Activity in the Huda Preschool, Hashem-al-Daraj
Aim of the activity: working with plants, water, and preparation of potted plants from plastic bottles and bean seeds.
Road 317: Just past Susya, at the turn to Mitzpe Yair, we saw cars of the Border Police, and a number of Palestinians from Bir al-Eid. The Palestinians were in a truck transporting sheep. They told us that the sheep were meant for a wedding in Yatta. The Border Police soldiers stopped them in order to check if the sheep were stolen. The soldiers were polite, more or less. They told us they were waiting for instructions. The Palestinians told us that the sheep are marked (with numbers) as their sheep. Mohamed put them in touch with Azem and Naser in Susya. We took their phone numbers and later we learned that they had been released with their sheep. Their treatment seems to have been fair because there are many thefts of sheep in this area (also in many settlements within Israel). But is hard to shake off the feeling that the Border Police would not have stopped a truck of sheep that was driven by Jews.
We stopped at the preschool in Tuwani in order to drop off some equipment we purchased for the preschool – plastic boards for hanging work on the wall, paints, and so on. We hope that the preschool teacher, Suad, will receive help from the villagers
Hashem-al-Daraj:
We were received by Huda, Amna, and the children with smiles and hugs. Huda said how good it was to meet with Israelis who don’t just demand to see entry permits. We began the activity with a story about seeds that grew into sunflowers (Huda read from a book that we had provided). We continued outside with plastic bottles that the children filled with potted soil, planted bean seeds and watered them. Each child took his pot home. We hope that some of the plants will be cared for as needed, and that the children will see the bean plants grow.
We concluded our visit in the usual way – drinking tea. We discussed the future of the preschool, a continuing conversation with Huda. We are planning to continue our work with the preschool teachers and possibly raising support for them to study. Salary payment for the preschool teachers remains a problem. We have submitted a request for support for part of their salaries.
Pictures of our activities at the preschool – the album of 26.9.2018 can be found in the album gallery of Gan Huda: