At the
tail end of our Eid holiday last week, we decided to take one last
trip to visit some fellow ICS volunteers living in Bethlehem. On the
Saturday, we had booked to take part in a Palestinian cooking class
run by the NOOR women’s empowerment group in Aida refugee camp.
This was something that I was really excited about as it is a great
opportunity to learn more about life in a Palestinian refugee camp,
whilst getting the chance to cook (and eat!) some delicious local
food.
All refugee camps in Palestine are administered by UNRWA |
The
NOOR collective was set up in 2010 as a way to help women in the camp
with disabled children. Life in Aida is particularly hard for
families with disabled children, as many facilities that we would
take advantage of at home are simply not available. For example,
education within the camps is run by UNRWA (United Nations Relief and
Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) and there are only two schools
in Aida, neither of which have adequate facilities for disabled
children. This means many families face significant school fees and
transportation costs for their children. As a way to generate some
income for the families affected, NOOR began to run bi-monthly
cooking classes for internationals which offer a chance to prepare
some Palestinian cuisine and take a tour of Aida.
At the
cooking class we were immediately welcomed into the project
co-ordinator Islam’s home, where Sdihar (another member of the
collective) was ready for us to start preparing our meal. For the
main course, we helped prepare mujaddara
– a traditional Palestinian dish with rice, lentils and caramelised
onions. We were also taught how to make an Arabic salad and
everything was served with home made yoghurt. To finish the meal off,
we were served Arabic coffee and a helba (semolina and fenugreek)
cake.
The fruits of our labour |
After
the meal, we were given a short tour of Aida camp. Aida was founded
in 1950, after the expulsion of Palestinians from their original
villages in 1948.
The camp
is located between the Palestinian towns of Bethlehem and Beit Jala,
and most residents of the camp come from 17
villages in the western Jerusalem and western Hebron areas. Mahmoud,
our tour guide and Islam’s husband, showed us some graffiti at the
entrance to the camp depicting scenes from these villages. On the
tour, Mahmoud also explained to us some of the key issues facing
refugees living in Aida. These include water shortages, overcrowding,
unemployment (Aida has an unemployment rate of 70%) and being unable
to vote in local municipality elections.
The
cooking class was not only a chance to learn more about some
traditional Palestinian dishes, but it was a great chance to learn
more about life as a refugee in Aida.
Hi, I visited Aida in 2010, really nice to read your blog.
ReplyDeleteI was struck by how close the wall is to the camp. I remember children playing football up to a few meters from the wall. The graffiti on the walls telling the story was extremly powerful. They had just built a computer block. Is that still there? It would be great if you could post more photos.
Thanks,