That We Might Have Life

supporting students displaced in the Middle East Crisis

“A few weeks ago, the building for the Dar al-Kalima University campus in Gaza was destroyed. But they seek to respond to the emergency by providing continuing education in the midst of the crisis.”

So begins a recent email from Peter Makari, the Global Ministries Global Relations Minister for the Middle East and Europe, writing to Week of Compassion and to our counterparts on the Global H.O.P.E. team of the United Church of Christ. Together, we are responding to support young people displaced in shelters, tents, and schools in Gaza, and in Egypt as refugees.

Dar al-Kalima University (DAK), located in Bethlehem, Palestine, is the first and only institution of higher education in Palestine with a focus on the arts, culture and design. Its overall mission is educating the next generations of creative leaders in Palestine (and the Middle East) through innovative and high-quality academic programs and lifelong learning opportunities, underpinned by a culture of entrepreneurship, research, and civic engagement.

Before the attacks that began in October 2023, the DAK Gaza Training Center campus (opened in 2020) provided courses for more than 300 participants; those artists in turn reached more than 1600 children through outreach activities. DAK also organized art exhibitions and provided more than 25 young artists with production scholarships and financial awards.

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Now seven months into the most recent escalation of violence, the loss of life, destruction of infrastructure, and devastating trauma persist on an incredible scale. According to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, there are nearly 35,000 Palestinian fatalities and 78,000 wounded, the vast majority being women and children. More than 60% of housing units in Gaza have been destroyed and 1.7 million people (75% of Gaza’s population) have faced internal displacement (fleeing within Gaza to shelters and camps) or have been made refugees into neighboring countries. Almost half of Gaza's population (1.1m) is facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity, and the health system has been severely disrupted with the destruction of most hospitals and the deaths of nearly 500 health professionals.

Education in Gaza is obviously greatly impacted by this crisis. Teachers, students, and staff have been displaced, injured, and killed, and more than 80% of school buildings directly hit or damaged. All twelve universities in Gaza have been destroyed, and all records are missing. Student access to education is so powerfully cut off it is being termed ‘scholasticide’.

The severe disruption of education services, compounded by the trauma of killed and injured caregivers, family members, teachers, and friends, will impact the mental health, intellectual development, and physical wellbeing of students for years to come.

With Week of Compassion support, Dar al-Kalima will provide educational services for displaced university students of Gaza, by offering electronic courses in different art-related fields to help them complete their studies and graduate.

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Since the majority of the students have very limited access to internet services, the sessions for each course will be taped and posted on a digital platform to allow the students to access during any time internet availability is secured. This will also ensure offering the courses to as many students as possible.

The first day that DAK announced the electronic academic program, a total of 1,662 young people registered. This response is profound evidence of not only the great need but also the great hope that these young people carry for their future despite the horrific current conditions. DAK anticipates they can serve about 1,500 students in internally displaced shelters, schools, tents within Gaza, or in Egypt as refugees.

A network of more than a dozen faculty and artists has volunteered to teach during the first semester, which alleviates the great cost of covering their fees. This network – made up of persons from different parts of the world, including Europe, U.S., and the Arab countries as well as Palestine – is expected to grow in the next few months, and a program director will be secured with these grant funds.
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Alongside their mission of educating the next generations of creative leaders in Palestine (and the Middle East), and in the midst of the destruction and uncertainty around them, Dar al-Kalima holds close to the vision ‘that we might have life and have it abundantly’.

That is Week of Compassion’s prayer for them, too – for their students, and for the world. ​

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Contributions designated ‘Middle East Crisis’ will be used 100% in support of these efforts.

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all photos via Dar al-Kalima University Gaza Training Center on Facebook

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