Makan: Empowering Palestinian Children through Arts and Healing
Makan creative writing workshop
Join me in supporting Anar’s creative writing program, Makan: Empowering Palestinian Children through Arts and Healing
Makan is having a significant positive impact on the lives of Palestinian children so my friend Rami Khader and I are teaming up again in order to expand it to three more communities. Learn more about this vital work and join us to enable its expansion!
Project Overview
Anar, a non-profit organization based in Bethlehem, Palestine, is expanding Makan: the Creative Writing Program. This project is designed to provide psychosocial support and creative outlets for 30 Palestinian children from Beit Sahour, Dhaisha Refugee Camp, and a village near Israeli settlements. These children live under the constant threat of military incursions and settler violence, and the program aims to help them express their feelings and frustrations in a therapeutic manner through creative expression.
Makan Participant - Natalya,10 years old
I am a big olive tree, I am in Palestine’s land and dirt. I am a tree that grows. I love for someone to take care of me, and for Palestine’s people to eat from me and children to play around me. I am a tree that gives a lot of benefits such as olive wood, olive soap and olive oil that you eat with za’atar.
I am a tree where in my trunk dreams and future hopes are intertwined. I dream one day for Palestine to be free and more olive trees to grow. And for children to play around me like before—the past that I still remember.
Project Structure
Duration: 30 sessions over the course of one year
Participants: 30 children (10 from each locality)
Session Length: 2 hours per session
Project Phases
1. Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (5 sessions):
- Focus on mental health exercises to help children release tension and feel safe.
- Build a foundation of trust and emotional stability.
2. Creative Skills Development (10 sessions):
- Teach creative writing, storytelling, visual arts, and video production.
- Provide children with tools to express their stories creatively.
3. Story Development and Healing through Art (15 sessions):
- Assist children in developing their personal stories.
- Emphasize healing and emotional expression through creativity.
- Support children in creating a final project: a written story, visual storybook,
podcast, video production, or theater play.
Makan Participant - Jonathan, 12 years old
I am a rebellious tree, and I don’t like my state. And I always wonder, am I the problem or others’? How about you hear my story: at the beginning children enjoyed running around me and the guys would enjoy drinks, things like coffee, and I was a happy tree. And there was thistle strangling me and I couldn’t breathe. We all know that the olive tree resembles Palestinian People, and the thistle is the occupation’s strength, and I dream to be free from the thistle.
Goals and Objectives
Short-term Goal:
- Empower children to share their stories and transform their experiences into creative works.
- Provide a platform for children to express themselves during times of conflict and violence.
Long-term Vision:
- Establish Anar as a leading organization using artistic methodologies for healing.
- Expand the use of arts to support children, caregivers, and communities in healing and resilience.
Specific Objectives:
1. Inclusive Psychosocial Support:
- Provide gender-sensitive, community-based psychosocial support programs.
- Ensure children affected by violence and oppression have access to these services.
2. Community Capacity Building:
- Raise awareness and build capacity within the community, including practitioners, leaders, youth, and volunteers.
- Foster a collective environment for psychosocial support and healing.
3. Creative Programming:
- Facilitate cultural and creative interventions to promote resilience and expression.
- Utilize arts as a medium for storytelling, healing, and community development.
Impact and Outcomes
By the end of the program, each child will have produced a unique creative project, showcasing their personal story and experiences. These projects will be compiled and published, providing the children a sense of accomplishment and a platform to share their voices with the world. The program will also help to shift the narrative from viewing these children as victims to recognizing them as empowered agents of change.
Budget and Funding
Cost per community: $10,000 for One Year
Total Cost for three communities: $30,000 for One Year
Cost per Child: $1,000 for One Year
Expenses Cover:
- Project Coordinator (artist with experience in healing and art)
- Trainers and facilitators for creative writing and arts
- Psychologist for additional support and individual therapy
- Training materials and resources
- Publishing costs for the final creative projects
Conclusion
Anar’s Creative Writing Program is a vital initiative that aims to foster the psychosocial wellbeing of Palestinian children affected by violence and oppression. By providing these children with tools for creative expression, we hope to empower them to become storytellers and agents of change, transforming their personal and communal futures through the healing power of the arts. This project not only supports individual healing but also strengthens community resilience and collective hope.
Back Story
Rami and I first partnered to create Children of Bethlehem in 2018, then Kisati during the pandemic in 2020, and now Anar is our third collaborative project within Through The Checkpoint, my collection of education and advocacy initiatives for justice and peaceful coexistence in Palestine and Israel with the Creative Visions Foundation. While we wish other circumstances were bringing us back together, Rami and I are grateful to be working together again.
About Rami
Rami Khader is a humanitarian, artist, entrepreneur, and psychosocial support trainer from Bethlehem, Palestine with a diverse range of professional experiences. He is the founder of several notable initiatives and organizations, including Diyar Theatre, Diyar Academy for Children and Youth, the Bethlehem International Performing Arts Festival, and Anar Organization for Psychosocial Support. These initiatives/organizations use art and creative activities to inspire young Palestinians to advocate for constructive social change, cultivate cultural identity, improve mental and emotional health, and provide a unique platform for personal expression.
Rami’s expertise lies in a variety of fields, including humanitarian response, psychosocial support, arts-based healing initiatives and programming, MHPSS capacity-building, and community grassroots empowerment. He is a staunch advocate of using psychosocial healing to empower children, youth, and caregivers not only to survive, but to thrive in crisis and difficult contexts.
Rami currently serves as the Director and Founder of Anar, a not-for-profit organization situated in Bethlehem, Palestine. Anar’s work is centered on advancing the psychosocial wellbeing and resilience of children who have been impacted by violence and oppression. The organization is committed to improving the lives of these children through various programs and interventions that prioritize their mental and emotional wellbeing. Rami’s extensive training experience has been enriched by his tenure as a lecturer at Bethlehem University, where he taught psychology and social work, and his time as the Director of East Jerusalem YMCA's Rehabilitation Program, where he led a team of 70 staff members, trainers, counselors, and coordinators in delivering lifesaving psychosocial support. He is particularly committed to mobilizing and educating young people to support mental health and psychosocial initiatives in their own communities.
Rami's impactful work earned him the 2015 Arab World Social Innovator Award from the Synergos Institute.
