Wadi Abu-Hindi Bamboo School

Some ride the family donkey to school

A 20 minute drive down a remote desert road, past piles of garbage and a reeking cesspool of black water runoff from a hilltop dump, just a hundred feet past a group of tethered donkeys lies the Wadi Abu-Hindi Bamboo School. The staff of 15 provides educational services for 85 boys and girls from 1st through 9th grade living in the small Bedouin villages of Abu-Hindi and Abu-Noir.

The school is 20 years old. It was first created as a one-room tent by a teacher who still works there. A second school was built in 1998 but was later demolished by the civil administration. This, the third school, was made in partnership with an Italian NGO 'Vento di Terra' that gets very creative with building materials (you may remember my post on the Tyre school). Unlike most 'permanent' structures in this part of the world it is made of bamboo, mud and wood. It is made this way because there is a governmental injunction against building with concrete and cement.

The Bamboo School

At the Bamboo School, transportation for students and teachers is very difficult. Many of the schoolchildren walk 6 km each way from their homes to their school. They often have to pass nearby settlements where they are threatened and harassed. The journey on foot takes 2-3 hours. In the summer, it's scorching hot and in the winter it is cold and rainy, with potential flash floods. There is a sewage pipe they cross over that is frequently backed up and spills onto their path. The lucky ones are able to ride their family's donkey, but not all can afford to do this.

The headmaster of the Bamboo School has asked the Palestinian Authority for a bus, but he was told there is no money. Now, he is working with various international NGO's to see if anything can be done to fix their transportation issues. Last month, four of the teachers were arrested and interrogated for 5 hours by the police on their morning commute to school. The crime? Riding together in a carpool with an old, unregistered car on the school's long dirt driveway (which is actually perfectly legal, according to Israeli law). After the teachers paid the eight thousand shekels in fines, their case will be brought before the court on May 27th. No one knows if further fines will be levied, or if the driver will lose his license.

A Third Grader learns Mathematics

Another problem they struggle with is safety. A nearby military installation has left behind numerous unexploded ordinances and live ammunition in the fields where the children play or shepherd their family's sheep and goats. One child recently lost two fingers when he picked up a grenade, hoping to sell it for scrap iron. The teachers and the Red Crescent try to educate the students and parents about the safety risk through seminars and morning announcements, but children still pick them up.

Homework is an issue, because many Bedouin parents cannot read or write, and neither do they have the technology or electricity for their children to use. Teachers do their best to fit all the curriculum they can into the young minds of their students during the school day, but they know that assigning homework is a losing battle. Since the school's electricity is limited to half a dozen solar panels, they are unable to run all their technology at once. The nine classes take turns using the 2 laptops, a projector, and a printer.

English Class Poster by 9th grader Nada Hassan

Boys in particular seem to have a difficult time keeping still, and about half choose to work instead of going on to high school in neighboring Al-Azariah. Many girls graduate high school, and one student recently went on to receive teacher training at Al-Guds University. The headmaster beamed with joy telling us about her, and his dream of inspiring the rest of the children there to become teachers.

"We try to get the Minister of Education (from the PA) to explain that they should continue in the school and become teachers. Just think - you can become a teacher, and teach your children in this school!"  (Waled Abu Hilal, headmaster)

It struck me, as we were leaving, that despite all their challenges, the teachers and students here at the Bamboo School possess a hope in the future that is astounding. To be able to learn Arabic, English, Mathematics, History and Geography under such incredibly difficult psychological and physical conditions shows great strength of character. It's this attitude of thriving, despite great odds, that I've witnessed during my time here again and again and makes me think that once some peace and equality finally do break out there will be very little left to hold them back. May it be so, and may it be soon.

Thank you, Wadi Abu-Hindi Bamboo School,
for your hospitality during our visit! We'll be back!