12th of September was a celebration day for the children of the village of Kisan near Bethlehem. The students put on their best clothes and headed to their new school. It offers 15 learning spaces for primary and secondary school, including chemical laboratories and sports facilities for up to 220 children. The school in a marginal area of the West Bank was fully financed by the Swiss Development Cooperation SDC with the aim to foster the right to education and leaving no one behind. It was planned and implemented responding to high quality standards by the Municipal Development and Lending Fund and MDLF and formally inaugurated with the presence of the local community and authorities mid October 2021.  

The new learning environment for Kisan and adjacent rural communities contrasts starkly from the old and narrow caravans of the old school, which became unfit as the population grew. The classrooms were too small, the teachers’ lounge served also as the principal’s office, and they had to share one small toilette. As temporary solution the community managed to secure two shipping containers as additional classrooms, with the students suffering from the cold of winter and the heat of the summer, making learning an unbearable process.

But these days are gone now. On that fateful Sunday, the students of Kisan, girls and boys, walked with their heads held high in the sky, proud of their new learning environment, and eager to dream of better things to come.

Saad Halawani, Thomas Jenatsch 15.10.2021