Activities


Aida Youth Center has a broad and varied activities program aimed in particular towards the children, young people and women of the camp, providing psychological support, training courses, sports and community activities in which everyone can participate. Our activities to date include the following:

Women’s Activities:

Empowering the camp’s women by improving their skills and general well-being is a major objective of the Center. We provide many activities aimed at achieving these goals, including:

  • A woman’s gym, financed by the Belgian Government, and a separate section of the Center which is dedicated to women and their own activities.
  • Celebrating the annual International Women’s day, on March 8th of every year, with a special event.
  • Marketing women’s handmade embroidery products and art pieces allowing them to generate addition income for their families. The Center sold more than $5,000 of women’s arts and crafts in 2010.
  • Other women’s activities also include training courses and workshops, local community activities, along with psychological support activities.

Children Activities:

Throughout its history, the Aida Youth Center has been able to offer the camp’s children a wide range of activities, including:

  • Scouts.
  • Training a traditional Dance troupe – Dabka.
  • Entertainment trips.
  • Various leisure activities such as painting, drawing, dancing and playing.
  • Handi-Craft training for former prisoners who can have a very difficult time finding employment.

Youth and Sports:

The Center has a major role in developing sporting activities for the camp’s young people:

  • The Center created the camp’s only sports teams in football, volleyball and table – tennis.
  • Approximately 20-25 volunteers participate by helping to coach and train the youth.

Psychological Support Activities:

To cultivate the well-being, self-confidence, and overall mental health of the camp’s refugees, the Center, in cooperation with various international organizations and local NGOs, provides the following resources:

  • A special program for unemployed women (approximately 20 participants) has been developed in cooperation with the Arab Rehabilitation Association (Hospital).
  • Psychological support programs for children traumatized by Israeli military operations within the camp (approximately 40 children and their parents); offered in cooperation with Rehabilitation Association (Hospital). Most of these children have successfully recovered from their trauma symptoms.
  • Psychological support programs for recently released prisoners and their families in cooperation with the UNRWA.

Training Courses and Workshops:

The Center has been able to provide several workshops and training courses that:

  • Encourage young refugees in cooperation with the Women’s Social Consulting Center.
  • Encourage, support and help to organize community development in cooperation with the Maan Development Center.
  • Educate about Democracy and Human Rights in cooperation with the Ramallah Center for Democracy.
  • Train the unemployed and our young people in cooperation with Department of Social Affairs and UNRWA.
  • Enhance educational opportunities with UNRWA’s Education Program – Information and Cooperation in connection with the Department of Education in UNRWA.
  • Teach about Youth Rights, Women’s Rights and Democracy in cooperation with Palestinian Center for Peace and Democracy.

Local Community Activities:

Several activities developed and hosted by the Center have aimed at bringing the community together and developing its potential, such activities include:

  • Successful high school and university graduates arrange children’s parties offering them entertainment, activities and gifts by engaging them in positive activities.
  • Local community meetings with UNRWA where all parties concerned discuss the best ways to develop Aida camp and its services.
  • Arranging Public Peace Resistance activities against the Segregation (Annexation) Wall.
  • Encouraging and arranging for students and other volunteers to help clean inside and outside the camp’s schools, painting where necessary and planting trees.
  • Humanitarian Support and Relief to the camp’s poorest families, providing them with life’s necessities.
  • Hosting engagement and wedding parties in the Center’s main hall for local families who either do not have enough space or lack the resources to host such important events in their own homes.