Last Monday TYO spent its weekly field visit in the Hamdi Manko Center, a large, open space near El-Ein refugee camp. We were greeted by fifty excited children, some who were familiar with TYO and some who were new to our program. Ahmad, a current TYO Core Program participant, introduced each and every single one of our staff members to his friends. We were ecstatic to see that Ahmad had relationships with not just one or two, but was close to each one of us. We fell in love with TYO all over again, understanding that it is a center built on meaningful connections between our staff members, volunteers, and, of course, children.
Despite growing up in difficult circumstances, we found that even the new children opened up to us quickly. Haitham, one of our wonderful Core Teachers, had students stand in a circle and introduce themselves differently. One of the boys, Mohammad, introduced himself as Hammodah, the loving nickname his mother has for him.
We played together for hours and, eventually, ended our day with one of our favorite TYO games: parachute!
- Ala
Ala is a Core Program Teacher at TYO Nablus.
Filed under: Core Child Program, Events, Field Days, TYO impact | Tagged: al-ain, al-ein, core program teachers, early childhood education, Field, field day, haitham, nablus, Palestine, parachute games, refugee, sports development, summer 2011, summer camp, west bank, youth development | Leave a Comment »
