Sports for Beautiful Change
|
>View discussions about this entry Country: Palestine
Organization: Alrowwad Cultural and Theatre Training Center Alrowwad, Pioneers for life
Sport: Dance
Year the initative began (yyyy) 2006
Positioning in the Mosaic of solutions
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence? A first project in Aida camp to provide a space and possibility for women and girls empowerment through sports including fitness, dance and Gym
Describe your innovation. What makes your idea unique and different than others doing work in the field? This was the first sports center for women in a refugee camp in the west bank. Mostly sports are for boys, and in a refugee camp which has a conservative community, the place for girls is mostly in the house. Apart from some volleyball and basketball training in the School, there is no other activity for girls between the ages of 6-15, and further, the Volleyball team is for girls from 13-15 years old, leaving only basketball as an activity. So our innovation is to give opportunity for other girls as well as older girls and women to practice sports, in camp where there are no playgrounds or space for such project.
What are the existing barriers, the biggest problem, your innovation is hoping to address/change? The first problem is space, so we provided our only multipurpose hall to be used 3 days a week for women fitness, dance and table tennis training for girls. The conservative vision that girls/women place is at home. This project will help break this stereotypes, and will also give women and girls an opportunity to meet and work in a team in a positive and constructive environment. The use of girls school playground will be possible for Volleyball training.
Delivery Model: How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing? Announcement in the camp, contact schools, and meeting women/girls in Alrowwad. Register interested participants: Women above 18 years old, and girls from 6-15 years old. Selection of trainers, and employment of project manager and coordinators. Start training, with a follow up by a social/psychological worker in the center to follow up the impact on beneficiaries. Organize public meetings in presence of families and social and religious responsible in the community to have as well more support from the local community.
Fitness and dance- continue the program started in 2006 with Nike-Ashoka initiative. The indoors space will be provided by alrowwad for Dance, Table tennis and Fitness. Volleyball shall be in the playground of the girls school . How do you plan to grow your innovation? Building a floor for women: supervised by women committee, charge fees from those who can afford it. Sports and educational programs to be implemented for fund generation. The total cost for building a floor (240 square meters) and equip it is about 160,000 US$
Clean the garbage area and build playgrounds: This would involve heavy machinery to clean the space and transfer the garbage outside, and then build the playgrounds. This would cost about 90,000 US$. The preparation of teams, and starting competition with different schools in Bethlehem area for Volley ball and Basket ball, as well as football. Additional requirements for training and follow up for a year would be around 45,000 US$. We look for donors to fund also these initiatives Once this project is launched and playgrounds are built, we will start launching competitions in Bethlehem area, and then enlarge the circle to the West bank, and create jobs for people in the camp. Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact. Improved physical, emotional & psychological health, overcome depression, positive role models, enhanced self-image, self-esteem, confidence, new jobs
What impact has your innovation had to date/or what is your intended impact? Exactly who are the beneficiaries? Aims to empower women by allowing them to improve their physical, emotional, and psychological wellbeing. Enhanced fitness will allow women to respond to stressful, demanding situations with confidence in their own abilities. This project has proven in the past six months to be a great success and fulfilled an urgent need for the women beneficiaries. In the first 2 months, 12 women have registered for the fitness training. On the third month, we had more than 25, and later more. On early March, in the 4th month of the project, we were obliged to duplicate the sessions for women, 2 groups of 25 women each. Each group has 3 weekly sessions of 2 hours. Most of the participant women are married. The participants' age ranges from 20 to 50. In addition, girls were from 9 to 15 years old in the dance program, and boys and girls from 6-12 years old in the Gym. This project will provide jobs for at least 5 people.
Please list any other measures reflective of the impact of your innovation? This project of great impact on the harmony and the balance within the community at large, and within the family in particular. It builds up a good environment between family members, and community members . This is because of the positive impact that it creates within the women and girls who will see themselves included and not excluded because of their activity. This project on its small level would create new jobs, and more jobs once the building of the c enter and playgrounds take place.
What are the main barriers to creating or achieving your impact? The main obstacles is the adequate space to extend the project and the necessary funding to build the floor for women sports center, as well as do the work to build the playgrounds.
There are also some local barriers that include opposition from a certain part of the community to involve girls in the open field in terms of sports which we did solve partially during our last project. How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)? Ashoka and Nike are possible seed funders for the project. The first part of the project was partially funded through them. Some other funders are possible to be involved like Women Win and others probably.
In terms of building and playgrounds we are sending proposals but didn’t get any responses yet. If known, provide information on your finances and organization. Alrowwad, initiator of the "Beautiful Non-violent Resistance", is an independent, dynamic, community-based not-for-profit organization which strives to empower children and women by targeting behavior, knowledge, concepts and practices through beautiful and non-violent means. Alrowwad is community based and depended mainly on volunteerism.
Alrowwad targets the national community while focusing on children and women in the local community of Aida Camp and Bethlehem district. Alrowwad targets as well the international community at large to break the stereotypes and show another image of Palestinian people and culture. Alrowwad has actually 6 international volunteers and 9 national volunteers. Actually 5 part time employees, 1 full time in Images for life and 10 full time in supportive education program. In 2006, Annual Budget was about 180,000 US$. In 2005, Annual budget was about 92,000 US$. What is the potential demand for your innovation? Funding to build the infrastructures and space needed, and adequate funding for trainers and equipment.
What are the main barriers to financial sustainability? 1. High rate of unemployment (> 70% in the camp): people can't afford to pay for the training.
2. Poverty and priority is given to basic needs rather than "luxury" needs like sports and arts. 3. Lack of external funding support. What is the origin of this innovation? Tell us your story. The origin of the innovation came from a need and a discussion with a group of women, mostly mothers of children in arts or supportive education program and board members in Alrowwad (Alrowwad board is composed of 3 women and 4 men).
I am holder of a doctorate in Biological and Medical Engineering/ When I was a child and till I finished my BSC I was a football player, table tennis player, head of the cultural and artistic committee in the youth center in the camp. I was also painter, poet, and actor. I got a scholarship to continue my studies in France, while doing my Master and PhD in Biological and Medical Engineering, I continued to follow up painting and theatre as actor, playwright and Director. I came back home after 9 years in France and founded Alrowwad Cultural and Theatre center in 1998 in Aida camp with some friends, as a way to defend our humanity and break the stereotypes diffused in the media about my people representing them as violent and terrorists, and a way to offer our children a peaceful and nonviolent way of expression and I called it “Beautiful nonviolent resistance”. My main concern in the children and women place in the society had led me in 2005 to quit my paying job as professor in Bethlehem University and Head of Microbiology lab in a Palestinian Pharmaceutical Company to volunteer in Alrowwad for 2 years before having been elected as Ashoka Fellow. I was elected as the first Ashoka Fellow in Palestine in 2006. Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers marketing material. Born in 1963 in AIda refugee camp in Bethlehem. Bsc in Biology at Bethlehem University an dthen Master and PhD in France in Biological and Medical Engineering. Playwright, Poet, Painter, Actor and director. Worked as Assistant professor in Bethlehem University and as Head of Microbiology in Beit Jala Pharmaceuticals company since 1994 until 2005.
See attached CV for more details. Elected as distinguished volunteer in 2004 By Sharek-UNDP initiative. Contact Information:
Abdelfattah Abusrour
Founder/Director of Alrowwad Cultural & Theatre Training Center Alrowwad Cultural and Theatre Training Center Alrowwad, Pioneers for life (Non-governmental independent ) Discussions about this entry |
||||
| Attachments - please click on each image to see it full size: |
|---|
CV complete 180907.pdf Annual Report 2006 030907 2.pdf |
Dear Abed and Stephen,
I commend your comments about women! Thank you for being allies in creating a world where women and girls have equal rights and can be whoever and whatever they wish to be.
Abed, your work and life are as inspiring as always. What I like most is that the sports and dance work stems from conversations with the mothers themselves. I wanted to let you know that the following link lists charitable organizations that work in your region. http://www.wrmea.com/charorganizations/index.htm the ones with a ($) sign are funding agencies. Good luck and hope to see you soon.
Astrid Aafjes
Women Win
www.womenwin.org
The concept of women empowerment has been something that has bordering my life for the past five years.
I don't see the reason why are not given that chance to exercise their Gods given talent, I don't understand why women are always been discouraged in society.
I strongly believe women are equal important as men and therefore they must be treated equally in society.
Women should be given the chance to contest all levels of elections and also participate in all decision making processes.
It is until recently that women are being recognize to challenge men for positions, at first when one sees a woman contesting a post with a man what people say is that why should a woman challenge a woman instead of going to the kitchen to cook for the family.
We are in the twenty first century and all these ill ideas are over
Women are capable of handling positions as men in all sectors both the private and public sectors
Time is now to allow our women to take the mantle and set new agenda, agenda for prosperity, unity, wealth creation and many more.
It is of these reasons that is why Ghana Business Consult, a non Governmental organization is devoting much time to make sure that this dream come into stay.
Stephen fosu
Executive Director
Ghana Business Consult
Thank you Stephen for your comments. I guess we share common ideas about the need to make visble what is really clear for most of us, but still little is done to maje it visible... and that was the main purpose of Alrowwad efforts to create possibilities and open doors where women could find space for expression and freedom away from the stereotypes portrayed about the role of the woman, and its inferiority compared to men. In the Palestinian community, and during these hard years, women have demonstrated extraordinary initiative and power and ability to manage stress and take the lead in some places and take over the role of their missing or emrpisonned husband or parent. The road however seem still long to really see equality, and our ope is that such efforts make the distance and the time shorter.
Thank you kindly for your contribution.
Abed
Hi Abdel Fattah!
Happy New Year to you! Here is wishing for a more peaceful future! I wanted to point you toward an entry that I thought may be of interest....its a bit activist, but I thought there might be relevance to your situation albeit a lot more extreme: http://www.changemakers.net/en-us/node/4058
I hope you are well and look forward to/ hope to see you soon!
All the best,
Ziba
Thank you Ziba for the comment and the link and you wishes.
We have been actually trying to transform a space left behind after the building of Israeli apartheid wall on the border of the camp, which became a garbage area, representing a health and environmental danger for the community, and morespecifically the children playing in this only little space. However, we have been facing some challenges to pay a rent for this left space if we want to clean it and build a playground and external theatre and public garden on it. I guess our main trouble is that there are non public land around or in Aida camp, so the main challenge is to find the necessary funding to buy the space.
It is always recomforting to read about efforts of such extraordinary people to keep the public services and lands alive for all.
Wish you all a beautiful, healthy, wealthy and worthy new year.
Looking forward to see you
Much love
Abed
Hi Abed
Congratulations on your entry. It was so lovely to meet you in Casablanca and see the videos and photos of your work. I am so very impressed by the courage it takes to teach children to respond as young artists and intellectuals and keepers of the cultural flame in such difficult and depressing circumstances.
I also wanted to suggest a contact in that I am now doing work with the paralympic committee in Palestine and they are well organised and very proactive. Perhaps there would also be a chance for you to cooperate with them for some of your intergrative activities. If you are interested let me know and I will pass it on to you.
All the best from Berlin!
Hope to see you soon. Stay safe.
Heather Cameron
Free University Berlin
University Challenge
hi Heather,
good to hear from you. It was a great experience meeting you all and working as well in participatory video workshop together.
I am surely interested by your proposal and looking forward to hear more about it.
thank you kindly. wish you a merry Christmas and happy new year
Abed
Kevin Carroll
Changemakers Featured Commentator
Sport for a Better World Competition
Beautiful Change
This initiative is a wonderful way to empower young ladies and provide alternative ways to promote the power of sport and play with the Alrowwad Cultural and Theatre Training center. The idea of creating play destinations within the refugee camp, in the west bank of Palestine, for a target group that has limited offerings to participate in physical activity would positively impact their lives in many ways and the community's viewpoint/opinion of the value of physical activity for these girls and young women.
Abdelfattah, have you ever heard of the organization, Architecture For Humanity? Its a fantastic organization that could actually find a way to assist in getting your center and playgrounds built - www.architectureforhumanity.org
Architecture for Humanity is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization founded in 1999 , by Cameron Sinclair, to promote architectural and design solutions to global, social and humanitarian crises. Through competitions, workshops, educational forums, partnerships with aid organizations and other activities, Architecture for Humanity (AFH) creates opportunities for architects and designers from around the world to help communities in need. AFH believes that where resources and expertise are scarce, innovative, sustainable and collaborative design can make a difference.
I've personally worked on a project with Cameron to build a football pitch/clubhouse for girls in Africa and I know that his work is exemplary, well thought out, and remarkable. He could potentially provide a starting point to discuss ways to get your project supported. Reaching out to him may prove fruitful.
Great proposal with BIG impact potential.
Thank you Kevin for your comments on the impact of Alrowwad work. I didn't hear previously about Architectures for Humanity, and I will look at their website. It looks like a good opportunity.
I have tried some discussions with Nike, and hoped that they will be able to help as well through the technology they have with "Turf" play grounds, made of recycled sports' shoes. Though what I have understood from Nike people that this is yoo expensive and not easy, I hope still that they will take in consideration Alrowwad initiative and the possibility to help in that.
I will get in contact with Cameron. Could I mention your name?
Thank you kindly for your comments
Abdelfattah
Kevin Carroll
Changemakers Featured Commentator
Sport for a Better World Competition
Abdelfattah, you should most definitely mention my name with Cameron Sinclair. He is a wonderful thinker and problem-solver so, he may have some great suggestions for your effort as well.
all the best & keep doing this BIGm meaningful work...
Hi Kevin
Thank you for your support. I did write to Cameron, and hope he can be helpful. I didn't receive any response yet from his part.
Thanks again
Kindly
Abdelfattah
Kevin Carroll
Changemakers Featured Commentator
Sport for a Better World Competition
Abdelfattah, please keep me posted on your progress with Architecture for Humanity and let me know if I can be of any help in facilitating the connection too. all the best...
Mr. Hani Qattan submitted the entry, "PACES: Step Away From Potential Extremism." Mr. Qattan is also working on Sports for social change in Palestine. His email is hani@pacescharity.org. We hope that you will get in touch!
Hi Dana
Thank you for your follow up. Hani wrote me and we hope we will be able to see each other once he is back to visit Palestine.
Thanks again
Abed
Thank you for sharing your program. In what ways does your dance program emerge, intersect and benefit from both the sports for social change arena as well as the arts for social change movement? How do you see the overlap and the parallels in and between sport and the arts?
Thank you again, and I will look forward to hearing from you.
Kindest regards,
Eli
Eli A. Wolff
Manager, Research & Advocacy
Center for the Study of Sport in Society
Northeastern University
e.wolff@neu.edu
Hi Eli,
Thank you for your comments. I look at dance as part of sports as well as part of the arts. It has the beauty, grace, energy and physical power that is in both fields. As such we do work with dance as a sport and as an art: Sports by the exercises and physical energy that allow women and girls to release all this pressure and stress accumulating within them, and art with the freedom and grace of movements and enjoyment that it delivers to them. This is coupled with awarness programs on health issues, violence, psychological and social guidance and follow up as well as family issues.
Both, arts and sports, are motors of change within the community, if we develop them within the spirit of change and impact we want to create, and not just a way to spend time. Sports and arts require committment, descipline and engage a spirit of team work and collaborative effort to make things happen and to reflect this spirit of beauty. It is with this spirit that I try to carry out this change.
I hope that answers your questions.
Kindly
Abdelfattah
With the camps operating under such precarious situations, I commend you on your work in helping an even more marginalized group in the camps. With such a limited potential for income generation, have you pursued partnerships with UNHCR, UNICEF or UNIFEM? I would also like to know how far along the project of building the gym floor has come. Are you still in the planning stages or fundraising stages?
Thank you in advance for your response.
Best,
Tyler Ahn
Changemakers
Dear Tyler
Thank you kindly for your comments. We have tried to have some work with UNRWA, and UNICEF, but without much success in this issue. We have done plans and we presented proposals for fundraising. but some responded that they don't work in the refugee camps because they are the responsibility of the UNRWA, and some apologized for not funding building, and we are still waiting for 2 responses from other funders. Ouraim is to build 2 floors, one for women to include the Gym/Dance space, and a computer center, and another for video/audio recording and editing unit, and a space for art workshops with children. We are hopeful that would interest some funders.
Hello Mr. Abusrour,
You mention that one of the main barriers to the financial sustainability of your innovation is the high rate of unemployment (> 70% in the camp). Is there any way that "Sports for Beautiful Change" could incorporate some kind of job training or employment opportunities?
Please let me know your thoughts.
Dana Frasz
Changemakers
Dear Dana
Thank you for your comment. One of the issues is that we have some graduates who finished Bsc in Sports, and are without work. In addition, if we manage to build the new floor and the playgrounds, this would provide job opportunities for a large number of people in the construction work to start with, as well as maintenance and as trainers. This would also be an opportunity, once we have an adequate sports center, to train trainers, mainly women to spread the idea in other refugee camps and villages, where most of women are deprived from sports facilities. Once infrastructure is available, opportunities for job creation will increase.