Walking 25km to and from school along mountain paths and dirt roads is the only way to access education for hundreds of children living in the small farming, herding communities and villages in the Jordan Valley. The right to education is universal and essential for the future lives of all children and it is for this reason that the Education Campaign is one of the priorities for Jordan Valley Solidarity.

For a number of years we have been building schools for children living in these communities and villages to enable them to enjoy an education close to their home, which means that they do not arrive at school dirty from the mud and dust and exhausted, having set out on their walk to school at 4.00am. In this way, there is also less likelihood that they will be harassed and attacked by settlers and bullied by Israeli soldiers at checkpoints. Five out of the six schools built – all located on land classified as Area C by the 1993 Oslo Agreements – are thriving.

The latest school-building project will be in the northern Jordan Valley to serve the neighbouring communities of Khirbet Makhul, Samra, Al-Hadidiya, Khirbet Humsa, Hammamat al Maleh, Ein Al-Hilwa, Al Farisiya-Nab’a al Ghazal and Um al’obor. As a result of the Oslo Agreements, all those communities are located in Area C under total Israeli control and suffer from continual harassment and attacks from the nearby illegal Israeli settlements of Ro’i, Beqa’ot, Maskiyyot and Hamdat built on stolen lands, as well as by soldiers from two military bases, one situated next to the village of Samra. Their homes have been demolished on countless occasions, so they have to live in tents and makeshift structures which are cheaper and easier to replace. They are made to evacuate for days at a time so that the occupying Israeli army can carry out military training and they are deprived of electricity and running water, both of which are supplied to the illegal settlements in the area.

In 2013/2014 Jordan Valley Solidarity built a mud-brick primary school in Samra which served the same communities, the nearest primary schools otherwise being 25km away in Tubas and Tayasir. However, the occupying army demolished this school, including all the educational materials in August 2015.

Because of the importance we attach to all children’s right to an education, we have planned to replace the demolition and build a school in the community of Khirbet Makhul. Over 150 children aged between 7 and 14 will gain immediate benefit from this project. The building will be constructed with mud bricks and the work will start at the end of January 2019. The work should take about three and a half months to complete.

One of Jordan Valley Solidarity’s many structures made with mud bricks

At this point the land to be used has been identified and agreements with the owners have been reached which involves the cost for renting the land. In addition, the costs of the construction itself have been forecasted and the further costs to make it operational such as transportation for the students and basic coverage of the volunteer teachers, materials, etc. still need to be covered.

This appeal aims to collect the necessary funds to make it happen and to call for Palestinian and international volunteers to engage in the project by any means which includes the participation on the construction of the school, funding and the development of activities.

In order to reach only the first objective where the school is functional in a time period of three months a total of 5000 Euros is required (more or less 20800 Sheckels). This might sound as a small amount for such a project but this is explained by the type of construction used, with mud bricks, and the active participation and support of the local communities which minimize the costs involved.

We make an international call to take part in this initiative and contribute to the building of the school. We want to thank you in advance and we hope to reach one day justice and future forPalestine and its children! Donate here.