Hoping Foundation

Friday 20th November 2009 saw the 20th anniversary
of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of
the Child. But 20 years on, what difference has it
made in the lives of hundreds of thousands of
Palestine refugee children?

To mark the anniversary, Hoping, in partnership
with the UN's Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)
unveiled a project in which Palestine refugee
school leavers across the Middle East took part
in the creation of the region's first ever online
video yearbook. This project captures their hopes
and dreams and creates an online community,
previously divided and scattered by decades
of statelessness and exile.

Hundreds of flip cams were distributed to tens
of thousands of students in UNRWA schools in Gaza,
the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Each
student recorded a 30 second message. They will
form the basis of a living network for the future,
to be added to each year.

The Yearbook has been endorsed by UN Secretary
General, Ban Ki Moon, who highlighted the project in
a recent statement. Author Philip Pullman, musician
and writer Nick Cave, and other prominent individuals
have also videod messages in support of the
Hoping/UNRWA initiative, which you can view here.

We are now fundraising for 400 yearbook
computers for schools so that students
can log on to the yearbook website,
watch each other's videos, and send
messages to one another.

For £350, you can buy 1 computer for the
Galilee Preparatory School in Lebanon.
For £700, you can buy 2 computers for the
Boys and Girls schools in Amari Camp in the
West Bank
For £4,550 you can buy 13 computers for
all the schools in Rafah, Gaza.
For £13,300, you can buy 38 computers for all
the schools in the Damascus region in Syria.

The HOPING Foundation relies on donations
from individuals and organisations.

Please support this important project by
donating here

Palestinian refugee children need the simple
chances and ordinary possibilities that can
offer them creative solutions to their lives.
The most important thing we can do is to
help generate these possibilities, giving
them a belief in the promise of a better future.
We want to shown young Palestinians that their
struggle to transform their lives is encouraged
and supported by people in Britain and
throughout the rest of the world.

At Hoping we provide grants to grassroots
community associations working in the refugee
camps. They give these children the rare
opportunity to play and express themselves
through art, photography, film, music, theatre,
dance and sport.

Find out all about our community projects,
past events and applying for a grant here.

Massive Attack began working with Hoping soon
after the Foundation was established, raising
money and awareness for Palestinian refugee
youth. Supporting community associations working
with youth in occupied Palestine and refugee
camps throughout the Middle East, Massive Attack
is raising funds for arts, education, theatre,
and music for Palestinian children through three
special concerts, 'Hoping for Palestine', in
Newport, Brighton, and the Hammersmith Apollo in
London on February 8th, 9th, and 11th, 2010.

Hoping wants to demonstrate to Palestinian refugee
youth that their struggle to transform their lives
is encouraged and supported by the people in
Britain and throughout the rest of the world.
Massive Attack continues to raise money to support
music and arts programmes for Hoping, for children
living under military occupation in Palestine,
and in refugee camps across the Middle East.

http://massiveattack.com/

For more information please contact
the Hoping Foundation.

020 8964 0777
hoping@hopingfoundation.org

Main Office:
Milk Studios
34 Southern Row
London W10 5AN

Registered address:
27 Old Gloucester St
London
WC1N 3XX