Children in the Gaza Strip Overcome the Limitations of Deafness with the Joint Assistance of Atfaluna Institution and LFT
Atfaluna (“Our Children”) School for the Deaf was established in May 1992 in Gaza City, the largest city in the Gaza strip, a piece of land sandwiched between Israel and the Mediterranean and bordering on Egypt. Today, 250 deaf children from Kindergarten through to 9th grade study in the school. Atfaluna also offers other services for the deaf, notably vocational training, income-generating activities, a range of training courses for the parents and relatives of deaf children and specialized medical and technical services.Working in Gaza is especially challenging. Gaza is only 360 square kilometres large, but has a population of 1.3 Million, two thirds of them refugees originating from areas that today belong to Israel. These ca 870,000 persons live in eight refugee camps; the largest are Jabalia and Rafah, with 103,000 and 91,000 residents respectively. The degree of overcrowding is unimaginable. With about 60 percent of the population living on less than a Dollar per person per day, Gaza has one of the highest poverty rates in the world. In 2003, UNRWA reported that half of Gazan residents lived on one meal per day and 35 per cent of Gazans suffered from malnutrition. Political tensions mounted considerably since 2003, and both numbers are bound to be much higher now.Small wonder that only in a few isolated cases, the students of Atfaluna School are able to pay school fees. The great majority of students not only cannot pay anything, Atfaluna also provides them with school uniforms, underwear and hearing aid batteries. Since January 2008, LFT sponsors five of Atfaluna’s students:
| Bara'a | Ahmed | Afnan | Mohammad | Abdallah | |
| DoB | 2000 | 2001 | 2001 | 2000 | 1998 |
| Grade | 1st grade | Transitional level | 1st grade | 1st grade | 2nd grade |
| Method of communication | Sign language | Sign language & speech | Sign language & speech | Does not know how to sign | Sign language & speech |
| Attitude | Cheerful, energetic and very intelligent | Sociable with classmates Difficulty in concentrating and learning |
Sociable, very active, polite but untidy | Withdrawn and isolated due to lacking communication skills | Barely communicated Isolated |
| Events during period of reporting | Family moved to new house. They have very little household equipment. | Parents separated & Ahmed and his mother lived in maternal uncle's house. Much tension. Family reunited after counselling Family counselled about cleanliness |
Afnan is taught acc. to a special plan and is making remarkable progress and catching up with her classmates | No special events | Attended summer camp with deaf and hearing participants Developed interest in art and theatre Showed leadership skills and self-motivation Sociable |
| Problems during period of reporting | enuresis (bed wetting) | Communication problems with parents who have five deaf children and live in marginalized, far-off area | Low concentration due to emotional trauma two years ago Extreme weakness of arm muscles |
Very low academic skills | |
| Services during period of reporting | Counselling for Bara'a and family for the enuresis Making of ear mold Provision of hearing aid batteries |
Counselling for Ahmed and his parents and stress release sessions Fitting of two new hearing aids & provision of batteries Provision of cleaning agents |
Counselling plan set up for Afnan and parents Parents enrol in sign language and "Better Parenting" courses Repair of hearing aids and provision of batteries |
Special educational plan Counselling for his mother to help her stop overprotecting Mohammad. Provision of hearing aid batteries |
Special attention in class Provision of hearing aid batteries |
| Educational results | Moved to second grade with excellent average | Moved to grade one with good average | Moved to grade 2 with good average | Improved concentration and improved writing skills Did not pass exams to move to grade two |
Improved participation in lessons Completes his homework Helps his classmates with their studies Moved to grade 3 with good average |
| Remarks | Ahmed moved to another school |
It is exciting to see how much progress these deaf children have made in only eight months. Dear LFT donors: 50 GBP per month is sufficient to give a deaf child a chance for a better life. Please, donate generously. More children are waiting to be sponsored.
Give As You Earn: • This is the UK's largest payroll giving scheme and is administered by CAF (Charities Aid Foundation). Any employee or pensioner paid under PAYE can donate to a charitable organization in the UK, tax free. The Trust can receive GAYE donations, and our reference number is GYE 458449. Islamic Humanitarian Service:· The Trust has entered into an agreement with Islamic Humanitarian Service in Ontario to enable Canadian Citizens to donate to the Trust via a local Charity at ZERO% admin cost. Please contact us for further information. We sincerely thank I.H.S. ihs@primus.ca Comfort Aid International:· The Trust has entered into an agreement with Comfort Aid International in Texas to enable United States of America Citizens to donate to the Trust via a local Charity at ZERO% admin cost. Please contact us for further information. We sincerely thank Comfort Aid International. info@comfortaid.org To make a regular donation by standing order, please download a mandate from the website or contact us and we will send one to you. http://www.ladyfatemahtrust.org/donate.php . You can make a donation by using our secure on-line payment facility at https://secure.webstar.co.uk/lft/donate.php. Please remember that completing a Gift Aid form substantially boosts your donation by 28% if you are a UK taxpayer. Thank you, as always for all your generosity and support without which our work would not be possible. Yours sincerely,Amirali G. KarimChairman of the Board of Trusteesinfo@ladyfatemahtrust.orghttp://www.ladyfatemahtrust.org/Tel: +44 (0) 7798 76 10 20 Tel +44 (0) 1494 762 063, Email info@ladyfatemahtrust.org, Fax +44 (0) 1494 762 286,
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