Peace architecture for education in Gaza Strip
| Starting | 2010 |
| Objectives | Create a multifunctional center in the village of Um al Nasser to ensure quality educational opportunity to preschool children, psycho-social assistance to mothers and psycho-pedagogical training to the teachers. |
| Project Status | Completed |
| Technical Partner |   – ARCO Architettura e Cooperazione – Studio MCA Mario Cucinella Architects |
| Funded by | – Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Otto per mille Chiesa Valdese – CEI – Italian Conference of Bishops – Lush Italia – Municipalities of Milano, Bresso, Arluno and Sesto San Giovanni |
We responded to the call of the Bedouins from Gaza and to the request to carry out actions in favor of children of pre-school age. Um al Nasser village is located a few kilometers from the Eretz crossing and the border with Israel. This area, marked by Israeli military action in 2009, is next to the “No go areas”. In Um Al Nasser there is an open-work basin that collects the sludge from the northern Gaza Strip. In 2007 it collapsed, causing five victims and soil contamination.
Thanks to the participation of the local community, in the second half of 2011 we realized the “Children’s Land”, a multifunctional center devoted to children. As in the West Bank, we chose to build in bioclimatic architecture using sandbags and wood. The school complex, co-designed by ARCò (Architecture and Cooperation) and MCA (Mario Cucinella Architects) , has been carried out with the participation of the local community. The center is endowed with solar panels (realized with the supervision of Rete Solare per l’Autocostruzione) and a herbal purification system (Artecambiente).
Vento di Terra trained the local team, which consists of seven teachers, a social worker and a coordinator, about pedagogical method and management. In the “Children’s Land” you can learn “living, trying and playing”, combining together learning and direct experience. The Centre has six thematic classrooms with a capacity of 150 students, one families desk and a health education device. The project involves different socio-educational local authorities, such as the Palestinian Medical Relief.
The objective of our work is to provide pre-school age children with access to quality education services and families with health education on the problem of intestinal parasites in children, endemic in the area. The “Children’s Land” intends to give legitimacy to children in an area of conflict, on the basis of education for peace and dialogue.
