Bethlehem, the West Bank

As Christmas approaches, we watch with horror the continuing violence taking place in Gaza and the West Bank. Therefore when we received a request for help from the West Bank, we immediately said yes.

Support our work in Bethlehem

In 2018 and 2019, Sounds of Change provided training courses to a team of teachers and therapists at the Hope Flowers School in Bethlehem. This school has pioneered peace education with children for over 30 years, with the teachers integrating pedagogical insights and peace-building techniques into their valuable work. This includes dealing with difficult situations and frustrations, expressing your thoughts and feelings, group discussions and decision making, working together and listening to each other.

In the West Bank, Hope Flowers is unique in the field of specialist education. The school has specialist staff and rooms equipped for guiding children who cannot participate in regular education; for example due to autism, learning and behavioural problems or a physical disability. The school also involves parents and the broader community in its work; for example providing information to young mothers and family therapy.

Support is needed!

The teachers and therapists at Hope Flowers School are currently under great pressure. They have seen the demand for help from the surrounding community increase enormously. But the staff themselves also suffer from stress, trauma and uncertainty due to the war in Gaza and the increasing violence in the West Bank.

The school has asked Sounds of Change to support their teachers and therapists with training in trauma-sensitive support and the use of art and music for trauma. Additionally we will be offering guidance with intervision and encouraging the staff to call on their vast experience to gain insight into the shared problems they’re facing.

Along with our colleagues from Trauma International and Safe & Sound (the same group with whom we are supporting aid workers in Ukraine for almost two years now) we will be taking action as soon as possible.

The Hope Flowers School does a lot of fundraising itself, but understandably uses all these resources to help the children and their families directly. Therefore there is a lack of money for teacher support and training. Thanks to a generous donor in the Netherlands, we started online today, but we are also looking for the financial resources to realise our long-term plan of supporting the teaching team.

Help us so that the Hope Flowers School team can continue to do their important work. This is needed now more than ever.