Lajee Center (‘lajee’ means ‘refugee’ in Arabic), was established in Aida Camp in April 2000 by a group of 11 young people from the Camp who wanted to serve the community. It is an independent, Palestinian, non-governmental organization, registered with the Ministry of NGO Affairs of the Palestinian National Authority in 2001. The main aim of the Center is to provide refugee youth with cultural, educational, social and developmental opportunities. Its programs are designed in response to the particular needs of the children and the skills and abilities of its members.

Lajee has links with several local and international organisations which assist the center in conducting its activities. Local organisations include Ibda’a Center (Dheisheh Camp), Hanthala Center (Azza Camp), International Palestinian Youth League (Hebron), UNWRA Activities Department, Prisoners’ Association (Bethlehem), Social Workers’ Federation (Bethlehem), and the Refugees’ Service Affairs Committee (Bethlehem). Internationally, we have connections with the Belgo-Pal Association and French-Palestinian Solidarity.

Many individuals have also volunteered to support the Center. In Bethlehem, these include Mr. Salah Ta’amari , Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council; Mr.Mohammad Khalil Lahham, Head of Refugees’ Services and Affairs; Mr.Mohammad Madani, Governor of Bethlehem District; Mr.Isa Qaraqe’, Head of the Prisoners’ Association; and Mr.Ziad Al-Nemer, Director of the Intercontinental Hotel. Mr.Nabeel Musbah, Head of UNWRA’s Environmental Department in the Hebron area also supports the Center. In addition to these local figures, Lajee receives valuable support from several international friends.

Lajee organises cultural, social, artistic and athletic activities for refugee youth in the Bethlehem area. While our activities are currently concentrated in Aida Camp, we already have some participating children from Dheisheh and Azza Camps, and Bethlehem and Beit Jala cities. We hope to expand our activities to include more children from the surrounding area. We hope also to increase the number of volunteers from the area; currently our volunteers include one person from Bethlehem and one from Azza Camp.

The Center aims to develop social awareness in refugee youth. It structures and implements its activities in such a way as to eliminate discrimination against women. Activities are organised with the goal of fostering in the participants a wider understanding of the world in which they live, focusing on issues relating specifically to their own society, culture and history, as well as the global context. Our hope is to develop the social awareness of the children, deepen their education and provide them with the critical skills necessary for them to take on an active role in their society.

Lajee seeks to encourage and enhance the talents of the children by supporting and fostering their cultural, artistic and athletic abilities through special developmental programs. We believe that by providing the children now with developmental opportunities, we will give them the motivation and the skills necessary to pursue their interests and vocations later on. All the Center’s activities aim to provide the children with a key to their future and a conviction that they are the makers of their own future.

All our activities are organised by concerned members of the community, and our programs depend entirely on the voluntary efforts of our members, with some support from related institutions and interested individuals. Among our talented members are:

• a poet who writes songs specifically for Lajee
• a musician who plays the Keyboard and composes original music for the Center
• a qualified Dabka and folkloristic team which has performed in Palestine and Belgium

There are currently 21 volunteers, each of whom pays a nominal monthly fee of 20 NIS (c.$5.00). These fees go towards supporting the costs of the activities and of building maintenance. The idea of the nominal fee is also to encourage a participatory and co-operative spirit in serving the community.

ACHIEVEMENTS

Despite its relatively brief existence, Lajee has already made many significant achievements, and despite the enormous difficulties throughout the past year because of occupation and curfew, Lajee Center has continued to offer activities to the community in general and to the children in particular.

We have established 3 groups:

• a scout group of 65 children between the ages of 7 and 14 (temporarily suspended for security reasons)
• a cultural group of 48 children from 9 to 15, specialising in folkloristic dancing
• a choral group consisting of 10 girls and two musicians, between the ages of 10 and 16. The group has already performed 8 songs, written specially for them by our poet and musician. In September 2002 eight of the girls were invited to Cairo where they performed (singing and dancing) in the prestigious Cairo Opera House

We have held several cultural and athletic contests, as a way of encouraging and inspiring the children to achieve their best. see activities page

LICENSE

 

Certificate

Palestinian National Authority (PNA)
Ministry of Interior

Charitable Society/ Charitable Body

The ministry of Interior certifies that the society of Lajee Center, active in Bethlehem area/ Aida Camp, has been registered in the authorized departments according to the law of the national bodies number 6/ 2001 on Monday 12/11/2001, in the northern governorates region under temporarily registration.

Mohammed Lutfi Yasin
General Director of ministry of Interior/ West Bank