PROGRAM DOCUMENT  
2001 - 2002

TAMER INSTITUTE’S PROGRAM MISSION:

To contribute to building the Palestinian society through creating learning environments amongst youth, children, parents, and teachers by focusing on the invisible aspects of human growth (social, cultural, and spiritual) and cultural production.  

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT IN PALESTINE:

The failure of the peace process, the expansion of Israeli settlements after the Oslo accords and the current escalation of Israeli aggression against our Palestinian people does not only affect the socio-economic and political situation, but it extends to reach the education system as well.  During the past months, the Israeli aggression and the complete closure between Palestinian cities, villages and refugee camps have greatly harmed the Palestinian people.  This has affected the entire education process, for many students and teachers were unable to reach their schools in addition to some schools that were closed at times or even occupied by Israeli soldiers.  The current suffering is not something new to the Palestinian people who had lost its land, home and properties as a result of the Israeli occupation to Palestine.  It is an ongoing situation that will never settle down unless a just and comprehensive peace is actually achieved.  The only lasting solution is the one that ends all Israeli occupation and gives the Palestinians all their national inalienable rights.   

As a result of the escalating Israeli aggression, the Ministry of Education has additional burdens in its efforts to reform and develop the Palestinian educational system.  It has no plans so far to produce supplementary materials or general children’s reading books.  Its priorities are the upgrading of infrastructure, hiring more teachers, while providing limited teacher training and no salary increases.  

In the meantime, the predominant problems in the formal education system in Palestine continue to be quality and relevance.  Although a Palestinian curriculum is being developed and updated, some culturally irrelevant textbooks are still being used in schools.  Due to the lack of resources, it is unlikely that the Ministry of Education will address this issue for some considerable time.  Teachers in general have been trained in traditional teaching methodologies, producing a system designed to transmit theoretical knowledge through passive rote learning.  

The lengthy closure of schools in the West Bank and Gaza Strip throughout the first Intifada has resulted in an accumulated learning deficit and a manifestation of behavioral problems among school students, which continue today.  It has also created a high percentage of a virtually illiterate generation and we are still suffering from these negative effects, for many youth do not know how to read and write properly, simply because they do not have enough knowledge to build on.  Schools remain overcrowded, with up to 40 - 50 pupils in each class, and some schools running a triple shift system.  School drop out rates are rising, especially in the higher grades, with rates for the 11^th and 12^th grades being 8.28% for girls and 4.31% for boys.  Now, until the beginning of February 2000, and since the beginning of the second Intifada, around 334 people have been killed and around 10,720 wounded, 40% of who are students less than 18 years.    

In the non-formal sector, various Palestinian NGOs and community centers are working with youth in a variety of ways and methodologies, attempting to provide an environment where youth can find alternative ways to use their energy and potential. However, the need still remains to provide forum for youth through which they can be creative and develop their own knowledge, expressions, and experiences.  They need space, time and support to develop their own new society.   

TAMER INSTITUTE’S PHILOSOPHY:

Tamer Institute functions under the conviction that one main purpose of education is to transform patterns of thinking and aspects of social reality that are unjust and undemocratic.  Transforming reality, however, is not only a rational endeavor but also involves transformation of attitudes and emotions.  It is linked to the hope that change is possible and that people are responsible for it.  The Institute’s logo - a spring poppy growing through hardened soil - reflects this hope for human society.  

The process of building the civil society in Palestine essentially requires the community to take an important role in its welfare at any level possible.  This may occur in experimental and innovative ways according to the means available.  However, community education cannot take place without community action, a problem, an event or a social issue that focuses people’s efforts in attempting to find solutions or change the situation.  The interaction between these groups of people while they are in action is community education.  Sharing and transferring the experience of a particular group of people to others is also essential.  The expression of this experience becomes a source of knowledge, which is what is necessary for growth, development, and change at the national level.  

TAMER INSTITUTE’S STRATEGY:

The Institute's mission is achieved through encouraging reading, writing, dialogue and voluntary work amongst youth working within small groups involved in community action held together by a common objective with a tangible end product.  The Institute develops the specific objective and end product through its various projects and activities, in which youth are invited to participate, each according to his/her interests and needs.  The youth groups formed around the projects are then the main target group who are offered guidance and training in various issues that contribute to building their personality on the social, emotional, and intellectual levels.   

Tamer's strategy, which comes as a response to the urgent needs in the Palestinian community, is often susceptible to any changes or developments in the Palestinian society; it is flexible and develops in accordance with society's needs.  Youth's input is extremely important while developing any new program or perspective because eventually they are the major beneficiaries of our projects that are originally designed to comply with their needs and interests.        

PROJECT DEVELOPMENT CRITERIA:  

In developing its projects, Tamer Institute ensures that the following criteria is met within the project objectives and strategy:  

1.      That the project meets an educational need in the Palestinian community at large.

2.      That the project involves youth in the needs assessment, development, implementation, and evaluation.

3.      That the project encourages the participants to learn through reflecting on or by reference to personal experiences, express them in writing or dialogue, and read about other experiences.

4.      That the project, as much as possible, manages to tap into local human resources from writers, trainers…etc. and maximize the benefit from the available resources.

5.      That the project works on two levels: horizontal and vertical.  On the vertical level, the project goes deeply into the development of the youth and adults involved and horizontally through the dissemination of ideas and experiences within the community at large.  Therefore, the Institute's projects always involve an outreach component.

6.      That the project involves the production of a cultural product (a book, a manual, a newspaper, a magazine, a newsletter, etc…) to maximize the long-term benefit of the project and contribute to the development of local materials for educators, youth, and children.

7.      That the project has children and youth as a primary target group, with parents, and teachers / educators as the secondary target group.

STRATEGY FOR WORKING WITH YOUTH:

Children and youth constitute more than 60% of the population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (about 1,200,000 aged between 5-19 years).  During the long years of occupation parents and community activists saw personal and cultural values being threatened by the unstable political and social conditions.  During the Intifada, Palestinian youth were exposed to a very special situation: they became leaders of the community.  The Intifada years proved that our children and youth have the potential to be energetic, creative and committed to the betterment of society, therefore, helping them re-channel their energy and reconstruct their value system is of utmost importance.  For this reason, Tamer Institute finds it imperative to work with youth in alternative settings to provide learning environments that help them develop a better understanding of themselves and the world around them.  Providing youth with alternative learning environments and opportunities will enable them to explore and share their experiences and ideas with one another and with society at large.  Furthermore, Tamer seeks to develop youth's leadership skills, life skills, public health issues and knowledge of their history to reinforce their national identity.  It also enhances confidence in their intellectual abilities, and the perception that they have important contributions to make, as individuals and as a group to the welfare of their society.  In addition, Tamer's programs emphasize the acquisition of critical reading and writing skills since we view them as two of the most important elements in the process of expressive mental and social construction and hence, community building.

Tamer's strategy stems from the basic philosophy of the Institute, which states that learning environments can only be created amongst youth who are encouraged to read, write, and dialogue while working in small groups united by a common dream and joint aspirations.  They should also be involved in community action, which comes out with a tangible end product.  This formula, so to speak, creates the adequate setting for youth to acquire the means to learn and produce.  For this purpose, the Institute has set out the following guidelines for its projects:  

1. Each project has a core group of youth who are involved in project development, implementation, and evaluation.  The project develops its adequate structure and format for youth involvement.

2. The youth groups working in each project receive membership cards based on an application especially designed for each project.  The appointed committee, which includes the project coordinator, reviews this application, and the applicant is interviewed.  These groups should consist of youth from various geographic regions, and the project establishes a system of communication between them and the Institute headquarters.

3. The volunteer youth members of each project then form, in their respective areas, the Nakheel Teams who are actively involved in building their society in a variety of methods of community action.  In addition to the coordination for each specific project with the team members, the Nakheel Teams as a whole work with the regional coordinators on developing activities to encourage reading, writing, dialogue, and community voluntary work.  They become a resource in their community.

 4.  The Nakheel Teams are brought together on biannual basis in the “Summer Days” program and the youth conference.

a.       The conference aims at getting youth to know each other, exchange experiences, reflect on their work, build internal charters and documents governing their work and interaction, propose new projects and ideas.

b.      Summer Days is also a great opportunity for youth's interaction, exchange of experience, in addition to receiving specialized training in areas related to teamwork and their own individual development on the mental, intellectual, and social levels.

GENDER BALANCE:  

Tamer Institute challenges unjust social patterns and promotes positive social values.  Its projects take into consideration issues of gender balance, particularly in the more conservative societies.  Girls are especially encouraged to take part in our activities through special support and careful use of promotional language (ensuring that the language we use is gender sensitive), in addition to using advocacy and direct contact to assure and convince their parents.   The regional coordinators are selected to be gender sensitive, and we try to achieve a gender balance in all of our projects in terms of the participants and the coordinators.  Furthermore, when girls express the need to have their mother, sister, aunt, or brother present at any meetings we welcome their presence as a way of giving them extra confidence in the Institute and its activities.  In areas where women can only participate in all-women groups, we encourage the formation of these independent groups and work with them accordingly.  Regular meetings between youth in the different areas ensure that there is a certain extent of intermingling between the boys and girls. 

Old / New Projects:   

Tamer Institute tries to be responsive, if feasible, to urgent unmet educational needs in the Palestinian society.  From this perspective, Tamer will enhance and strengthen its emphasis on oral history, on Palestinian history and national identity through an integrated scheme in all of Tamer's projects and activities.  Another vital topic will be introduced to Tamer's projects, that of public health issues.  There is a serious need to raise the interest and awareness of youth to subjects like healthy diet, adolescence, physical fitness, personal hygiene, food safety, reproductive health, dangerous habits (like smoking and drugs), first aid, basic environmental issues and other related topics.  Such important subjects should become a common knowledge to our youth.  They will be implemented through a learning process by integrating them in the institute's main projects and sometimes through special workshops and activities.       

TAMER INSTITUTE’S ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE:

Tamer Institute was established in 1989 in Jerusalem and registered as a non-profit company.  In 1996, the Institute underwent a major restructuring process, which was culminated in the summer of 1997 when a new board of trustees was established and the procedures for registration as an NGO within the Palestinian national authority were started through the Institute’s lawyer, Raja Shehadeh.

Currently, there are 8 full time employees and 9 part-time employees at the Institute.  

FINANCIAL PROCEDURES:

For project expenditures, the project coordinator issues a payment request that is submitted for approval to the finance and administrative officer.  For administrative expenditures, the finance and administrative officer issues the payment request.  The accountant validates the payment request with relevant documentation (bills, contracts, etc..) and budgets, and issues the payment voucher along with a check.  The check is co-signed by the Director and either the chair or treasurer of the board of trustees.  El Youssef co audits the Institute's accounts on an annual basis.

WORKING WITH YOUTH IN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS  

The current Intifada, which is a response to the failure of the peace process and the continuous Israeli policy of intimidation, occupation and aggression made us think of means to lessen suffering and to respond to the urgent needs of our Palestinian children and youth.  Helping to create a learning alternative for children and youth is an imperative need in this emergency situation.  

In this critical situation, in which there are no foreseen prospects for a quick solution, we are trying to help in finding possible alternatives to education.  At this stage, Tamer decided that some useful activities can be implemented to address this grave situation, and these include:  

1.      Educational kits that can be used by the student or the family. 

2.      Psyco-social support to children and youth.

1. Youth active participation with children's programs in the libraries through story telling, drama, music, creative writing…etc.

2. Documenting live experiences

3.      Youth helping in emergency needs.

4.      Youth networking in advocacy with Arab and foreign youth.    

  THE PUBLISHING UNIT

BACKGROUND ON THE PROJECT:  

The idea was originally conceived in 1993 at Tamer Institute to set up the publishing unit to expand production and meet the need for new locally developed and produced books for children, youth, and teachers.  The Institute approached international partners for support.  The main obstacles to the development of the project were the radical changes in the Palestinian society, instability in the political situation, borders and the closure imposed by Israel, all of which continue to be restricting factors.  

The publishing unit continues to publish books in the following categories:  

 1.  Stories for children and youth

          a.  The tree of tales series

          b.  The wonder box series

  2.  Books written by children and youth

                         a.  My first book series

                         b.  Yara’at

  3.  Manuals for teachers and students - creative teaching series.

  4.  Translation of international literature for children and youth.  

The publishing unit has 51 titles within the above-mentioned categories, in addition to the various newsletters like Azzajel, passports to reading, and other promotional and documentation materials produced for the national reading campaign over the past five years.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE:  

-          The wider objective of the project is to encourage reading by making good quality literature books available for children and youth.  

-          To use children's literature books in schools to enrich children's language.

-          To encourage local children's literature writers and illustrators to produce more books and stories.

-         To build capacity for NGO educational publishing for children, youth, and teachers in Palestine.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES FOR 2001 - 2002:  

 1.  Develop the Palestinian children's literature.

 2.  Publish books for the visionary impaired children.

 3.  Encourage creative writing as a means of self-expression.

 4.  Expose Palestinian children to international literature, hence to different cultures through providing translated books. 

 5.  Develop the quality and quantity of publications produced.

 6.  Develop potential writers' skills through training.

 7.  Train illustrators and develop their skills through drawing workshops.   

 8.  Produce newsletters for documentation purposes.

 9.  Develop the quality of My First Book competition. 

10. Reprint some valuable children's literature books that are no longer distributed by any publishing house. 

11. Produce post cards and greeting cards from the illustrations of our productions.    

12. Hope to translate the book Palestinian on the Way and other publications.       

STRATEGIES:

 1.  Develop in-house capacity (personnel and technical facilities) for in-house production until the Camera-ready-copy stage.

 2.  Promote the quality and quantity of books for children and youth in cooperation with youth, children, writers and teachers.

 3.  Upgrade capacity of writers, illustrators, and designers working in the field of children’s books through extensive and wide-range training workshops.

 4.  Develop contacts with book fairs and book distribution outlets both locally and internationally.

 5.  Solicit writers to write new texts that are capable of stimulating children's imagination.

 6.  Translate some of the best stories from different cultures to get Palestinian children and youth exposed to international literature.

 7.  Encourage creative writing activities for potential writers.

 8.  Develop interactive multimedia CD-ROMs that integrate textual material, images, voice-over, music and narration to make the learning process for children much more exciting. 

 9.  Record stories on cassettes to reach the biggest number of children, especially those with visual impairment.  

10. Update and upgrade Tamer's Website. 

** At this stage, we are reevaluating the book market in an attempt to market our books in the local and Arab world to widen and enlarge the distribution circle.  By establishing relationships with publishing houses, we can have our books in their exhibitions and centers, hence increase the possibility of distribution.       

YARA’AT  

BACKGROUND ON THE PROJECT:  

In April 1992, and in cooperation between Tamer Institute and Al Quds daily newspaper, a weekly page for youth, “The Nakhleh ash Shiber page”, began to appear every Wednesday in the newspaper which distributed over 20,000 copies all over the West Bank and Gaza Strip.  After two years, the page was stopped because it was not a profit-making endeavor for the newspaper (i.e. it was taking up advertising space).  In the beginning of 1996, we began tracking some of the youth who used to write frequently in “ The Nakhleh ash Shiber page”, and we spread the word amongst the Nakheel Teams (the young volunteers in the national reading campaign).  Eight youth who expressed interest were joined together in the “editorial team” of “Yara’at”, a weekly page and monthly supplement for and by youth in the Al Ayyam newspaper.  This time, the agreement involves a financial element (The Institute pays the newspaper a fee for the supplement, which is printed and distributed with the newspaper).  The eight youth began their official meetings as an editorial team in August 1996, the first page came out in October, the first supplement came out in November 1996, and both have been coming out regularly ever since.  The Tamer Institute coordinator for this project is part of the editorial team.  

The editorial board, during the first year, developed the following policy guidelines, which are carried up till this day:

1.      The major responsibility of the editorial board is to collect materials from all the regions, specify the theme of the supplement, choose materials for both the weekly page and the supplement, in addition to following up with the editorial teams in the region.

2.      Insure that all writings submitted by youth, which reflect personal perspectives and experiences, will be published, unless they are of an extremely poor literary quality, because the primary objective of the page and supplement is to be a forum for youth to express personal experiences

3.      The page is open to all Palestinian children and youth ages 8 - 21 years.

4.      The choice of published materials will attempt to achieve a balance between girls and boys, different age groups, different geographic regions, quality of writing, and different writing genres.

5.      Decision making with the editorial team will first go through a process of dialogue until consensus is reached.  If consensus seems impossible, then the decision will have to be taken with a 2/3^rd majority.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE:

To publish a weekly page and monthly supplement for and by youth in Al Ayyam newspaper to encourage children and youth ages 8 - 21 years to express their personal experiences, feelings and ideas through creative writing.  Both the page and the supplement are open to journalistic writing, and to discussing issues of concern for Palestinian youth.  

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES FOR 2001 - 2002:  

 1.  Develop writing skills amongst children and youth.

 2.  Re-assert the importance of dialogue, critical thinking, self-expression and learning based on personal experiences.

 3.  Build a wide base of readership for Yara'at in different areas and age groups.

 4.  Change some negative social perceptions on the role of youth in society and gender roles.

 5.  Form the “friends of Yara'at” groups in the various areas.

 6.  Involve youth in discussions over public and national issues. 

 7.  Develop the quality and quantity of materials published in the weekly page and the supplement. 

STRATEGIES:

 1.  Training for youth on writing, literary criticism, and cultural issues in general.

 2.  Improve the distribution of Yara’at.

 3.  Develop the work of the friends of Yara’at groups in the different areas.

 4.  Expand the editorial committee by formulating editorial teams in all the regions.  This requires continuous meetings with the current Yara'at members and coordinator as well as specific workshops for the new groups to acquire the experience and skills necessary to work as a group and to edit materials.  

 5.  Assist the role of youth who are already in the process of implementing voluntary work in their regions to help in accumulating the skills and experiences through which they can work as a team to write about and discuss these experiences in Yara'at.   

 6.  Develop youth's writing, critical and expressive abilities and encourage internal dialogue among them through providing several workshops such as:

-          Communication workshops among members of the same group.

-          Literary criticism.

-          Creative writing.

-          Literary and linguistic editing.

-          Drawing and montage.

-          Social and educational issues. 

 7.  Conduct a literary competition for children and youth in coordination with the Poetry House and the Ministry of Culture so as to have a wider spread for Yara'at among the youth sector. 

 8.  Implement a creative writing project for children ages 10-12.  The aim of such a project is to spread the habit of writing among children by introducing new styles of writing that differ from what they take in school and by encouraging them to expand their imagination and their ability to express themselves. 

 9.  Besides the weekly paper and the monthly supplement, Yara'at is attempting to produce a quarterly magazine that deals with youth's social, political and economic issues in addition to literary materials.

THE SMALL CONTINENT PROJECT

PROJECT PROFILE:

The small continent project aims to acquaint Palestinian youth and children with undiscovered geographic, natural, and historic aspects of Palestine through field trips, documentation of personal experiences, and publications.  The project provides a comprehensive learning experience that involves physical, mental, and spiritual activities combined, all of which contribute to the development of the national identity of Palestinian youth and their relation to their environment.

BACKGROUND ON THE PROJECT:

Due to Palestine’s geographic diversity - it has all the geographical features normally found only within the boundaries of an entire continent- a German geographer referred to Palestine as “the small continent”.  This is where the project gets its title: a view that perceives Palestine not as a controversial political entity, but a wonderful geographical region that encapsulates diversity and pluralism in its natural environment as well as its people.

The project developed within Tamer Institute in 1991 in the form of discovery field trips in Palestine, combining children with creative adults (writers, illustrators, musicians, etc...) in a unique experience of discovering the land, the people and the environment.  

The project was suspended for two years due to the lack of funding, until 1994 when UNICEF- Jerusalem asked Tamer to develop a manual for summer camps on 15 different sites that they could organize field trips to.  The project was revived and the draft manual was produced.  Based on the manual, Ein Qinya book was developed as a sample of a series of manuals for youth and adults on potential sites for field trips in Palestine.  The Ein Qinya book includes historical information, practical information, pictures and drawings and names of stream life, animals, and flowers in the area.  The book also includes suggested activities and an illustrated story for children.  Following its publication, further booklets in the series were developed.

In 1998, the project was again revived within the institute and a part-time coordinator was appointed.  A core group of enthusiastic youth who are interested in discovering the small continent was formed and field trips were planned and implemented.  Since the theme of Tamer Institute’s projects in 1998 was to mark the 50th anniversary of the Nekba (the catastrophe which befell Palestinians in 1948), the project focused on areas of relevance.  A visit was made to the city of Haifa, walking through the remains of Wadi An-nisnas area, the remains of the churches and mosques, and talking to current Palestinian residents about the 1948 events.  The Lajoun destroyed village in the 1948 areas was also visited, and the participants spoke to some of its residents.

The group always received an information pack prior to departure, and accompanied by an experienced guide (usually the coordinator).  People were contacted in the area to provide additional information and to ensure human contact between the participants and the area. All participants would take notes and write their impressions following the trip, which is then documented in the project file.  At the end of the year, all the information packs, and reports of the participants are published in the form of a useful book or guide for future young visitors to those areas.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE:

To acquaint Palestinian youth with their natural environment and homeland as a means of spiritual, social, and intellectual development of their identity.

OVERALL PROJECT OBJECTIVES:

1. Contribute to the social and psychological development of Palestinian youth through integrating environment as part of their identity formation process.

2. Help Palestinian youth learn about archaeological, historical, and natural sites in Palestine.

3. Develop a strong interest in Palestine, its history and people.

4. Exchange experiences with other youth living in different areas of Palestine, especially with Palestinian youth inside the green line.

5. Train youth to be informal youth guides so they can be messengers for the small continent in their respective areas.

6.      Develop the habit and skills of historical, sociological, anthropological, and environmental documentation and research through first hand experiences and trial and error methods.

7.      Conduct a number of workshops in oral history, Palestine's history, creative writing and photography.  

STRATEGIES:

The year 2000 marked the second millennium since the birth of Jesus Christ in the Holy Land - Palestine.  Celebrations in Bethlehem and Nazareth encompassed all other places in Palestine where Jesus Christ, not just as a religious figure but a cultural and historic personality, left his marks. Therefore, the trail that the small continent had been exploring in the years 1999 and 2000 was the trail of Jesus Christ from Nazareth to Bethlehem who traveled all over Palestine, sometimes on foot, and sometimes using means of transportation such as donkeys, camels or horses.  Based on the religious and popular stories, youth had retraced the trail of Jesus to discover the various historical, natural, anthropological and archeological sites.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES FOR THE YEARS 2001 - 2002:

1. Develop a youth-to-youth field guide program, which will develop a group of youth who are capable to conduct discovery trips in Palestine for other youth from Palestine and abroad.

2. Develop extensive information and materials on highlighted areas in the trail.

  3.  Organize field trips following the designated trail for Palestinian and foreign visitors during the year 2001 as a contribution to the Bethlehem 2000 activities.

  4.  Translate the guidebook Palestinian on the Way, the outcome of the trail.