Report on Hope Flowers School in Bethlehem

August 2009

Hope Flowers School: The beginning of the new school year

Dear Friends of Hope Flowers:

The preparations for the new school year 2009/2010 which will start on September 1st have been taking place during the last few weeks. As a result of the incredible efforts last year of our hardworking faculty and staff, the increase in the number of the students has been remarkable for this fall semester. Our registrations indicate that the total of the school’s students will be around 450 students, while it was 350 students in the last school year.  The number of the staff working in the upcoming school year will be 30 staff members while we had 19 staff members last year.  Despite the requirements that come up with the increase of the number of students and staff, we still see this increase as a progress to be proud off.

Our summer was active with various programs and was marked with success. With your continued support and faith in us we have seen great progress at the Hope Flowers School and its community center and have been able to continue the success of our activities and programs. Our activities included academic programs for students like remedial activities; occupational therapy activities, psychological empowerment, a joint summer camp in the US that included two students from the Hope Flowers who met with Israeli and American students. In addition to the empowerment courses for women that included computer courses, psychological empowerment and educational courses on various topics of their interest. In Addition, the interfaith retreats for Israeli and Palestinians was another project that continued during the summer with success.

In order to move ahead and start the new school year, we do need your generous support. In order to pay the 30 staff members; 10,000 is our new monthly budget for salaries.  As you may already know; the school has been encountering financial hardships for the last few years due to the economic crisis worldwide which affected the size of donations the school has been receiving on one hand.  On the other hand, the economic deterioration in our area, and the high unemployment caused a remarkable decrease in the families’ ability to pay the tuitions which resulted in more financial difficulties for the school as we give between 50-90 scholarships for needy students each year.  Therefore, we have been depending more than ever upon donations from international friends and supporters to meet our basic needs and priorities.

At this time while we are getting ready to start the new school year, we are in sincere need for your assistance for supporting us in:

• Paying the salaries which are our highest priority. As mentioned above, the increase in the staff requires us to pay $10,000 each month.
• Supporting the scholarships for needy students, each scholarship cost about $550.
• We are also looking for support with our various programs aimed to expanding and fostering the school's philosophy of peace and democratic education.

We greatly appreciate your support. Contributing to any of the above needs will be of great assistance and will definitely make a difference.

Thank you so much.

Sincerely yours,

Ghada Issa
Co-Director