In addition to annual grants to the Mar Elias Educational Institutions in Ibillin, Pilgrims of Ibillin will also provide small grants (usually in the range of $2500 to $8000) to Peace-Building projects in the Holy Land beyond Ibillin.  The following priorities guide the choices:

Pilgrims invests in schools in the Holy Land that share the Mar Elias Educational Institutions’ goal of Building Peace on the Desktops of Students.

We give Peace-building grants to support Palestinian Christians’ efforts to provide meaningful jobs and livable circumstances so that members of this community can remain and thrive in their homeland.

We use Peace-building grants for unique projects where Pilgrims’ contribution clearly makes a key difference. We prefer that our funding will help something happen on its own, rather than being “one drop in a large bucket” of funding.

2011 Peace-Building Grants will include:

$6,000  St. George Melkite Church Kindergarten, Zababdeh

$5,000 Friends' School, Ramallah - Scholarships

$5,000 Leadership Development Program, Diyar Consortium, Rev. Mitri Raheb, Bethlehem

$2,000 Scholarships, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan & the Holy Land, Bishop Munib Younan, Jerusalem

$5,000 Seraj Library Project, new library serving communities near Ramallah

$5,000 Open House Preschool Program, Ramle 

$5,000 Wi'am Palestinian Reconciliation Center, Bethlehem, Zoughbi Zoughbi, Founder & Executive Director

St. George Kindergarten Project: St. George’s is a Melkite Parish in the Christian village of Zababdeh near Jenin in the West Bank. Abuna Firas Khoury Diab has begun sewing and soap projects to provide jobs, strengthen the local economy, and encourage families to remain there. In 2010 he opened a kindergarten adjacent to the church for the preschoolers of Zababdeh, Christian and Muslim together. This project was begun by Volunteers in Mission from the US in 2008. In August 2011 St. Anne's Kindergarten and Child Center passed a rigorous government licensing process.

We are impressed with the sincerity and vision of this young priest. He was assigned to the parish in 2002 after the village had been without a Melkite priest for 17 years. He is rebuilding the parish and says that while prayer is essential, priests who pray without addressing the needs of the community and its people are “liars.”  http://www.stgeorgeinzababdeh.com/index.shtml

Granted:  $6000 to finish the kindergarten and launch a new community park for youth & families.

The Friends Schools in Ramallah have a long history of serving children and youth in that city and surrounding areas. They provide kindergarten through high school classes, offering high academic standards as well as an “ethics program” that develops the Quaker values of respect, equality, and non-violence. Their program also includes a 3-year environmental awareness curriculum.  We felt a great similarity to the vision and goals of MEEI.  Shadi Othman, the school engineer and project manager and an alumnus, spoke eloquently about how the program “builds personality on all levels.”  

Scholarships for students in Jerusalem Lutheran School.  Bishop Younan is Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and pastor of  the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, located in the Old City of Jerusalem just yards from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Among the many ministries of the ELCJHL are schools that embody ideals similar to those at MEEI, including the Al-Mahaba Kindergarten, Jerusalem. 

See www.elcjhl.org /Educational Ministry.  

Granted:  $2000 for scholarships for ELCJHL scholarships.

The Open House Center for the Development of the Arab Child, Ramle  

This child care center for Arab children age 1-1/2 to 3 years was co-founded by Dalia Landau and is located in the house made famous in Sandy Tolan's excellent book, The Lemon Tree.  With Arab and Jewish teachers, children learn early to appreciate the culture, languages, and religious celebrations of "the Other," while developing pre-school skills in a positive, nurturing environment.  Arabs are a minority of Ramle's population, but because of this school, Open House "graduates" excel when they enter Israeli kindergartens and elementary schools. Hear a radio podcast--Matthew Rothschild, editor of The Progressive Magazine, interviews Dalia on Progressive Radio: http://www.progressive.org/dalia_landau_audio.html.

Granted:  $5000 toward Child Care Center Teacher Salaries

Seraj Libraries, Five West Bank Villages

The new community library in Kufor Ni'ameh, pictured at left, is one of a total of five libraries being developed in West Bank villages to serve children who are eager to read and share in activities.  Volunteers are the heart of the program, and donations from outside friends provide the funds to purchase the books. Most books are in Arabic, printed and distributed by Arabs in Israel or the West Bank. 

Granted:  $5000 toward the continuing development of West Bank libraries