ANERA – PNN - More than 1,000 refugees and Bedouins have resided in Anab Al-Kabir village for the past 40 years. The village, located 25 kilometers south of Hebron, is so remote it was connected to electricity only two years ago. Most residents live in tents or caves. A few families built their own mud houses. The land is arid and unsuitable for farming. The main source of income is sheep herding.
But, while implementing the project, ANERA discovered that much more was needed. ANERA Engineer Mohammad Abu Rajab had supervised work on the village’s new drainage system. “During one of my visits to the community, a young girl called Iman, no older than 12 years, approached me. She told me her school was small and there weren’t any classrooms for the older students in the eighth grade and upwards. As she was speaking, she started to cry. She told me that soon she would no longer be able to continue her education and instead would be forced to either herd sheep or get married, even at such a young age.”
Younger students enrolled in the school were so happy to be there they did not complain about the state of the school itself. Lack of space was only one obstacle. The school building was in desperate need of repair, not to mention better sanitation facilities and a new drinking fountain. There was no boundary wall to protect the school premises or a playground for the children.
With $22,000 of USAID funding, ANERA was able to fully rehabilitate the school and its facilities, including the addition of seven new classrooms and a computer room. The new boundary wall, playground, water fountain and sanitation facility renovations make the school a much healthier and safer place to study.
The additional classrooms mean the school can accommodate students up to the 10th grade and Principal Darabeia hopes the school soon will be able to accommodate students all the way to the twelfth grade.
PNN - Palestine News Network - Building a School in the Desert