What We Do?

'Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.' Margaret Mead.

Voice of Gaza (VOG) is a registered non-governmental, non-profit association. It was established in 2016 in the Gaza Strip according to the law of Associations and Charities Palestinian No. (8585) for the year 2000.

A new premises has been sought at Ansar street, next to French Cultural Centre in Gaza City. This proposed project aims to provide the basic equipment needed by the Voice of Gaza to furnish its office, which will be used to hold activities and programmes such as roundtable sessions, training courses, workshops, lectures and conferences.

It mainly aims to nurture, develop and promote the skills and abilities of gifted and talented young people and to provide them with a safe and positive environment to excel in, through using the English language and other forms of expression. Voice of Gaza also aims to explore and nourish their creativity and artistic side through music, poetry, and the arts, while giving them the tools to cope with the trauma of war through stress release sessions.

This program gives them the platform to help communicate their unique expressions and experiences to the larger world.

Objectives:

1. To discover and train talented children and youths from all categories of society.

2. To improve the communication and expression skills of the targeted groups in English and other languages.

3. To heighten their spiritual side through music and arts, while also helping them cope with the trauma of war and occupation.

4. To have fun, interactive, tension-release sessions for the targeted groups.

5. To enable talented people to convey their messages to the world, and publish their creative works.

6. To involve children and young people in voluntary works which promote universal values and beliefs to society.

7. To contribute to raising awareness about the Palestinian situation by publishing the works of talented and creative individuals via various outlets and publications.

8. To create a network between institutions and concerned centres inside and outside Palestine to serve the goals and the vision of a just and equitable society.All this will be accomplished through the diligent work of well-educated specialists who care deeply about the target groups, their education, their futures, and the future of their people.

My Story

'I have known Dina for the past four months, and words won't suffice to describe what an amazing student she has been. I come to the municipality twice a week and expect to deliver a lesson but to my surprise I find myself learning from my students. 

Dina is one of those students who never ceases to amaze me with her hardworking, intelligent and motivated nature. She is a kind spirit who is loved by her colleagues and shows initiative in every class discussion. 

Dina's progress throughout her four months in this project is quite remarkable for a girl her age, I asked her how her journey in the project is going so far and she said,

"It's a great experience and I'm enjoying this project . It's a really wonderful and successful project. Since I started going to the "Voice of Gaza" I had only a few rules and vocabulary, but now I have improved dramatically where I now know a lot of information and my English vocabulary has expanded.

The best thing is that I learned how to write stories, where I am able to express myself fluently and freely without any problems, thanks to the coaches, especially Saja".

I realised that Dina's improvement and continuous progress does not only come from her burning flame to learn; her parents' unconditional support drives her to be who she is today. Dina did not forget to state the immense support she receives from her parents,

"My parents like this project and they encourage me to continue and make an effort to become fluent in English. Their motivation and my love for English is what made me evolve, since I was a young girl my dream was to travel and get the chance to visit London, perfecting English is my first step. In general I want to thank all the people who helped me become who I am today".

Saja Al Qadiri

Teacher 

Why this project?

For the past seven decades, the Palestinian residents of the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) have suffered from continuous Israeli aggression and violations that have affected every aspect of their daily lives. Since 2006, the illegal Israeli siege imposed on the Gaza Strip has reinforced restrictions and deteriorated the social fabric of Palestinian livelihoods in the Gaza Strip.

The Gaza Strip has endured three major Israeli military assaults over a period of six years, all of which included the targeting of civilians, civilian infrastructure, private sector institutions, and health and education organizations serving large segments of the population. As a result, the living conditions have deteriorated drastically, with limited access to reconstruction materials after each assault.

Over the course of 50 days, from the 8th of July until the 26th of August 2014, the Israeli armed forces carried out a large-scale military assault on the Gaza Strip that caused unprecedented levels of destruction, damage, death and injury to Palestinian civilians, homes, and infrastructure. Particularly troubling is the effect on the lives of children that left people especially the young traumatized, grieving in the shadows, hopeless and heartbroken.

As a result, a group of talented writers, poets, musicians and artists have gathered to mentor those who are suffering and grieving, to give them a voice to express their thoughts, and to give them hope and peace. We know that our children, despite all the suffering and pain they carry, are gifted, talented and creative, and can be a symbol of hope and optimism. Our mission is to cultivate their creativity and show it to the whole world.

Why it Matters 

It mainly aims to nurture, develop and promote the skills and abilities of gifted and talented young people and to provide them with a safe and positive environment to excel in, through using the English language and other forms of expression.

Voice of Gaza also aims to explore and nourish their creativity and artistic side through music, poetry, and the arts, while giving them the tools to cope with the trauma of war through stress release sessions. This program gives them the platform to help communicate their unique expressions and experiences to the larger world.

The Project

This proposed project aims to provide the basic equipment needed to furnish its new premises which will be used to hold activities and programmes such as roundtable sessions, training courses, workshops, lectures and conferences. 

Budget Breakdown: 

How You Can Help 

Please help us to achieve our goal! 

• Please donate! Every $ counts!
• Share this campaign with your friends and family. Use the sharing buttons at the top of this page to post this campaign to Facebook and Twitter. And don't forget email; people are more likely to see and read a personal email message than one post among many on Facebook.