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QPYP Gaza Programs

Abdel Karim El Haw with his peers in one of the Public Achivement training sessions.

AFSC expresses its profound sadness that Abdul Karim Al Haw, a 14 year old participant in our Gaza Quaker Palestine Youth Program (QPYP), was killed on Friday, February 29 during an Israeli military invasion of the area. Six other children were killed in the same incident. 

We in Gaza are overwhelmed with the painful suffering of young people and children without any protection, and who have been deprived of their right to life.Abdul Karim lived in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. Amal Sabawi, director of the Gaza QPYP program, said "People I have talked to remember Abdul Karim as very friendly and a very good student. He would always motivate his peers to get more information about their lives and to understand how they could get involved to improve their conditions. He wanted to be a teacher and wanted to teach children about their society and their similarities and differences with other people. Finally, he was a loving brother who always took care of his younger siblings.

“We in Gaza are overwhelmed with the painful suffering of young people and children without any protection, and who have been deprived of their right to life. We wish to end this injustice, and for our young people and our children to live in dignity, freedom, and justice. We trust in the young people involved in the QPYP program to carry a message of love of life and determination to continue dreaming of peace and justice."

AFSC mourns with Abdul Karim's family. We continue to work for a future free of violence, where all peoples right to life, safety and dignity are honored.

2006 Popular Achievement (PA)

2006 Popular Achievement Festival in Gaza

For the first time QPYP in Gaza decided to have a festival at the end of the current Public Achievement cycle.

Horsemen (Al Fursan) - Popular Achievement Group in Gaza City

A group of 13 young men came together with the help of the Palestinian Committee for Intercommunication in Gaza, one of AFSC's partners in the region.

Previous QPYP Projects

Architectural Conservation and Community Renewal Project, was was an ambitious community renewal and restoration effort launched by the QPYP. The Project targeted Al Daraj, one of the oldest and most impoverished quarters in Gaza, in a multi-sectoral effort to survey and restore buildings of significant historic importance, including a Mamluk-era bathhouse. The restoration effort was led by groups of young architects, engineers, artisans, and community workers. The Architectural Conservation and Community Renewal Project sought not only to transform the quarter from its present neglected state, but also to become a model for historical preservation and future community restoration elsewhere in Palestine.

Heritage Education Summer Program targeted school girls, aged 15-18 years, living in the Al Daraj Quarter of Gaza City. The Program aimed to strengthen their heritage education and provide an extra curricular activity that is lacking for girls.

Assistive Technology Center for the Blind - The QPYP worked closely with the Islamic University of Gaza to develop programs for special needs students. The Assistive Technology Center for the Blind, for instance, was established by the QPYP at the Islamic University of Gaza, in order to strengthen the use of IT among visually impaired university students, and to provide an accessible and suitable environment to facilitate greater independence and learning.

Web CT Project encouraged virtual learning environments as a mechanism to access greater and more diverse information and resources. The project was launched at a local university in Gaza; however, it experiences difficulties in the face of closure and restrictions placed upon movement in Gaza.

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