We have returned. We had our final day in the Garden on Thursday 13th August. After much moving of weeds, earth, rocks, and gravel our work on the garden has come to an end. With the time and resources available we have put all our energy into creating a foundation and structure, the beginning of a garden that will grow and develop in the coming years.

Below is a breakdown of some of the elements we focused on with images of before and after. We will post more information very soon, thank you again everyone for your support, we could not have achieved this without you,

Miriam, Melissa and Ronald

Creating the structure

Weeding – laying bare the soil for landscaping
Leveling and Landscaping – changing the typography of the space by creating leveled areas, a section of which we inserted painted cirles of wood to create a colourful change of texture beneath the foot. We also created a circular mound, planting areas for fruit trees and a series of 3 raised beds for herbs and medicinal plants. All of these elements incorporated either wood we salvaged from local companies in Beit Jala, or large rocks which were donated by Beit Jala Municipality
Construction – working with local carpenters to construct a pergola that will function as a shelter as the garden matures. We planted climbing plants – bougainvillea, and Jasmine – along the wall, and grape vines along the path side of the pergolla. The carpenters also helped us with the sawing and moving of felled olive wood on site.
Wood treatment - We used three olive trunks on site, sanded and varnished them, to create fixed benches that run the lenght of the pergola. We also cut and treated other olive trunks into stumpes to be used as independantly movable seating.
Laying of gravel - Originally we were interested in looking into focusing on ‘Beit Jala’ being the word for grass carpet. From the moment we arrived it became aparant that this did not make sense. Palestine has extremely dry summers, irrigation is essential and due to stringent water regulations – sometimes resulting in waters sourses been cut off for periods as long as 20 days – we made a decision against using this material. Astro turf was an option discussed, but we decided against it due to the expense and complexity of the installation of this particular material.
The material, in huge abundance, that became fundimental to the design of the garden was stone in all shapes and forms. Palestine is renowned for its abundance of this material and so it became the most logical choice
Irrigation system – On the second last day of the project a local agricultural engineer came to visit the project. He announced to us that he had wished to donate plants, herbs and trees but on seeing the garden concluded how essential it was to have an irrigation system in place. He said that this was something he would also donate, work began on the installtion this straight away.

Here is a photo taken by Asad, one of the students at the school. Please go to project 2009 to view the Online Gallery to see other images taken and selected by the students.

Finally here are some of the images and info updating you on our progress in the garden. The three of us (Miriam, Melissa and Ronald) along with Palestinian architect, Rawan Serhan arrived at Al Shurooq School about 2 weeks ago and have been in the garden ever since. We have been working together with the kids at the school, and have had a variety of drop in volunteers who have offered their support.

When we arrived we found the garden full of weeds and so our first task was removing them, for this we recruited some very eager and enthusiastic young volunteers (the kids from the school). We continued shifting rocks – of which there are many – and the task of moving soil from one place to another began. In the first week the Zyara 2009 group joined us for a day helping with painting and landscaping, and we did the first photography workshop with the kids. For this we brought disposable cameras from Scotland for each child, Arabic speaking volunteers worked with the kids individually throughout.

Prompted by the delivery of a truck of what can only be described as large boulders, kindly donated by the Beit Jala municipality, we have incorporated these into the focal point which we had been developing, making a stone structure forming a circular mound.

We have made many trips around the area from Beit Jala to Bethelem to Beit Sahour, visiting local businesses and scavenging recycled materials that can be incorporated into the garden. These have included old tyres, wooden cable wheels, wooden palettes, scrap and felled olive wood so far.

We have also been working with a local carpenter in designing the pergola – another focal point in the garden. This arrived and was constructed a couple of days ago. Today we will do some planting with the children, on their last day of summer camp and do a final photography workshop…

Photos showing the progress made so far

We are now in our last week in the school, with the main heavy duty work behind us we still have more planting, leveling, painting and sanding to do. For this final week we will focus in on the details needed to bring our work on the garden to a finish for this year.

For the last week the three of us have been based in Jenin, in the north of the West Bank. We joined a group of about 20+ volunteers in helping renovate a guesthouse (the oldest house in Jenin) that is part of the Cinema Jenin project. Dr. Ali Dabbagh has also commenced his mobile eye clinic here and it has been a huge success so far, numbers attending the clinic tripling over the course for the week, exceeding all expectations. While here, we attended the premier of The Freedom Theatre’s latest production ‘Fragments of Palestine’, in Jenin Refugee camp.

Here are some photos from our time so far…

Oyooni Mobile Eye Clinic is currently implementing the first stage of it’s programme, screening patients in order to identify the nature and stage of their conditions.
www.oyooni.org

Cinema Jenin was built in the early 60′s and was once one of the largest and most impressive cinemas in Palestine. It was closed with the outbreak of the first Intifada in 1987. Project Cinema Jenin aims to encourage a culture of cinema-going for both the population of Jenin and its refugee camp. Project leader Fakhri Hamad, head of the “Cuneo Center for Peace”, Ismael Khateeb, renowned German documentary film, maker Marcus Vetter and a group of enthusiastic locals and foreigners want to bring the old cinema back to life.
www.goethe.de/kue/flm/thm/idd/en4330821.htm
www.cinemajenin.com

The Freedom Theatre was developed to empower and give voice to the children of Jenin Refugee Camp. Isolated from the world they are growing up amidst a seemingly endless cycle of violence and oppression. The theatre provides the children and youth of Jenin Refugee Camp with a safe space in which they are free to express themselves.
www.freedomtheatre.org

We would like to thank everyone again for their fantastic ongoing support. Since the fundraiser gig on June 6th the figure raised has increased to £2105.34. We have made a donation to Oyooni Mobile Eye Clinic in the amount of £500 to go towards the cost of purchasing the autorefractometer, which is essential in assessing Al-Shurooq children’s vision/blindness degree – http://www.oyooni.org/index.php?page=news-announcements.

We leave tomorrow morning for Palestine and so the journey will begin. We will try to keep you all updated as much as possible on how the project is going depending on access to internet.

Many thanks again,
See you all very soon,

Miriam, Melissa and Ronald

We would also like to thank sincerely all the bands who provded inspiring entertainment, Alan our sound man, the Mosque Kitchen, Kebab Mahal, and Susie’s diner for the wonderful food, all the volunteers who helped out on the night, and also the many sponsors who donated raffle prizes.

From this event we managed to raised £1,521.32 for Palestine, we could not have done this without your support.

Please keep an eye on this blog for further information on how the project develops.

THANK YOU!
Miriam, Melissa and Ronald

El Bassar is holding it’s first fundraiser Gig on 06 June 2009. Tickets for the event are on sale from Avalanche records, Cockburn Street and Blue Blazer, Spittal St. (£10- £8 concession)

All the money from this event will go towards landscaping a sensory garden at Al-Shurooq School for Blind Children, Palestine. Please support this worthy cause, by buying ticktes for the event today!

For any queries please contact us at:
elbassar@yahoo.co.uk

Fundraising event for Palestine

BANDS

Found

Withered Hand

Meursault

My Kappa Roots

Rob St John

Little Pebble

TIME: 7.00pm – 12.00am
DATE: 6 June 2009 (doors open 6.30)
LOCATION: Old St. Paul’s, Jeffery Street, Edinburgh

Tickets: £10 (£8 concession)
on sale from
Avalanche, Cockburn Street
Blue Blazer, Spittal Street