By Donna Baranski-Walker | Founder, Executive Director of Rebuilding Alliance
Hello Friend,
I am writing to update you on the project, Teaching in a Village under Demolition Orders, which you have supported with your generous contributions.
During the GlobalGiving Matching grant competition, this project received donations of $1041 which generated a match of $561! Very exciting. The donors asked us to use these funds specifically to buy books for the Ibn Rush’d Library!
More good news: The Palestinian Authority has notified Al Aqaba Village that they will pay the salaries of two new teachers! This means the kindergarten will have room for 20 more children. The challenge here is that in general the Palestinian Authority does not have the funding needed to pay salaries. What should we do if this promise cannot be fulfilled by the time school begins in September? Do you think Rebuilding Alliance should organize a Kindergarten scholarship fund for needy children?
Perhaps you remember our first visiting teacher to Al Aqaba, Ms. Kali Rubaii. Kali returned this summer with filmmaker Maurice Jacobsen to interview families in our Rebuilding to Remain program. Kali, a Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology now UC Berkeley, is working with her professors to set-up a study visit to Al Aqaba for her Congressman Sam Farr.
You’ll be happy to know that Save the Children has been sponsoring a summer camp for the children of Al Aqaba! In addition, Al Aqaba’s guesthouse continues to welcome a steady stream of visitors! Koreans, Brits, Americans and Israelis are all visiting.
While in the West Bank, Kali interviewed two new visiting teacher candidates, an American and an Estonian. One, Patrick Fogerty, recently arrived in Al Aqaba. He was a teacher at Project Hope this summer and will stay in Al Aqaba for about a month. More about Patrick in our next email.
We continue to look for new teachers for the Fall Semester. If you know someone who you believe would be excellent, please ask them to get in touch with us to fill out an application!
As always, please send me any questions or suggestions. I look forward to your thoughts.
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