The Welfare Association
The Welfare Association is a UK registered charity established in 1993 to support the most vulnerable Palestinian communities with sustainable development programmes and emergency aid. The Welfare Association works with Palestinian communities in Gaza, the West Bank, and in refugee camps in Lebanon.
In 2011, Cycling4Gaza will be supporting one of the Welfare Association’s core programmes: The Gaza Community-Based Rehabilitation programme. This programme will support the urgent health and educational needs of children, in particular those seriously injured and disabled in the conflict, in the following projects:
The National Society for Rehabilitation in Khan Younis and Rafah will support 650 children with disabilities by:
- Providing rehabilitation services
- Providing psychosocial support for children and their families
- Supporting the children’s education
- Raising local community awareness on the rights and needs of those with disabilities through the production of publications and other materials
Society for the Care of the Handicapped in the Gaza Strip, ‘Sun Centre Children’s Club’ will support 180 children by:
- Assessing children’s needs and supporting their learning disabilities
- Providing educational equipment, software and books to develop and improve children’s cognitive, memory and analystical skills
- Upgrading the teaching skills of 16 teachers through training and specialised workshops to better meet children’s needs and develop each child’s skills to their maximum potential
Nour El Marifa Association, ‘Friendly Learning Spaces’, will support 250 children with special needs and learning difficulties from some of the most impoverished areas in the middle of Gaza in basic skill development in Arabic, English and Mathematics. The project will involve:
- Participatory and active learning techniques to engage the children and encourage their levels of concentration
- Psychological support activities including group consulting, individual consulting, home visits and the monitoring of negative phenomena through workshops
- Recreational therapeutic activities such as social and educational day trips, artistic and dramatic activities and folklore and scouting to develop children’s skills and build their self-confidence