MiniActive | The Jerusalem Intercultural Center

MiniActive Youth for the Environment – Mixing Art and Paper Recycling

Our MiniActive Youth for the Environment are becoming experts in turning everyday materials, outdoors as well as in, and making them beautiful. We’ve described here and here their outdoor painting projects at local schools and on garbage receptacles.

Paper recycling art work

Last week, they also experimented in making artwork by recycling paper.

Creating different designs

At the workshop that took place at the Abna al-Quds Community Center in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, they first ripped up old newspapers.

First steps of preparing the paper

Then they made the paper into a paste

Now it’s starting to get gooey

And then began forming it into creatures.

Looking super

Here’s the post in Arabic from the MiniActive Facebook page:

Naomi Roff2016-11-04T14:30:25+00:00October 20th, 2016|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

MiniActive Youth – Leaving their Mark on East Jerusalem

Our MiniActive Youth continued to leave their mark on East Jerusalem, in only the best of ways. This past week they finished several new decorating projects in the Wadi Joz neighborhood.

Where is that path leading to?

They painted part of a wall

One of several undergoing a facelift

As well as a number of garbage receptacles.

And yet another one

It’s never been so fun to take out the trash!

And yet another

Many continued thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for their ongoing support of this project.

They didn’t paint only garbage receptacles

Here’s the original Facebook post in Arabic:

Naomi Roff2016-10-23T16:10:53+00:00October 7th, 2016|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

Nutrition and Exercise – Integral Parts of Healthy Living Course through MiniActive

Nutrition and exercise run hand in hand in healthy living. This is what some 50 Palestinian women are learning in a 4-month course in nutrition and healthy living, developed by MiniActive. In addition to lectures on nutrition, and important part of the course is showing the importance of physical activity.

Getting ready to improve health

As part of this element, some of the participants took part in an exercise session on the soccer pitch at the Abna al-Quds Community Center last week.

Ready, set, go!

Way to go!

Here’s the Facebook post in Arabic.

Naomi Roff2016-10-07T13:16:21+00:00September 26th, 2016|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

MiniActive – New Course on Nutrition Opens at the Abna al-Quds Community Center

We’ve reported many of the MiniActive successes on our blog here. The blog also includes descriptions of a wide variety of classes that participants can take part in, as a way to improve their everyday lives as well as build community. Last week, on September 5, we began a new course on proper nutrition at the Abna al-Quds Community Center in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City.

Going over the nutrition pyramid

The course was developed out of a need in the field, due to a rise in diabetes, obesity and other chronic illnesses associated with lifestyle. The opening session reviewed the nutritional pyramid, the influence of food and physical activity on people’s health, the need to include as few toxins in our food as possible. Fifty-four participants gathered for the opening session.

An impressive first day

Certified nutritionist Susan Tony will accompany the course for 4 months. We wish the participants well – and good health!

Here’s the Facebook post (in Arabic):

Naomi Roff2016-10-07T13:15:09+00:00September 12th, 2016|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

MiniActive Youth – also Improving Issawiya

We’ve written here about MiniActive Youth’s project in Silwan. They are also helping to decorate a special education school in Issawiya. The girls started at the end of July.

They decorated one of the school’s doors.

Decorating doors

And fences.

Fences

And other structures outside the school, making it a more pleasant place to be.

Under the sea

And the Facebook post in Arabic:

And here’s some more pictures on their progress, both on the building:

More decorations on the door

Here’s another picture of the decorations painted on one of the aluminum siding fences around the school:

More fun paintings

And on the fence surrounding the school:

May you, too, have a colorful day

And here’s a later Facebook post:

But wait! There are more pictures from Issawiya.

Finishing the decorations on the door

We’re sure these pictures and other decorations will make the children’s learning experience special.

What are they building? We’ll soon find out

Many thanks also to the Tambour paint company, which donated the paint.

Here’s the Facebook post in Arabic:

Naomi Roff2016-08-26T14:46:34+00:00August 25th, 2016|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

MiniActive – Improving the Environment for Palestinian Residents throughout East Jerusalem

We are, yet again, seeing the results of the incredibly hard work the MiniActive women are doing day in, day out. Here are some examples:

In January 2016 MiniActive reported that bricks were falling from a school’s outside wall in the Old City.

The wall, before

Here’s the wall, after the workmen finished on Saturday, August 6:

After. Now this wall won’t be dangerous

Here’s the post from the MinActive Facebook page:

Drainage problems can also be health hazards. Thanks to the work of MiniActive in Kufr Aqeb, this drainage problems has been taken care of. Here’s a before and after picture:

Cleaning up drainage problems in Kufr Aqeb

MiniActive has also followed a number of public works activities that have taken place as a result of their complaints:

In Wadi Joz

And elsewhere in East Jerusalem:

Improving infrastructure for safety

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for its continuing support of MiniActive.

Naomi Roff2016-09-15T16:46:31+00:00August 20th, 2016|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

MiniActive Youth – Fruits of their Labors of the Silwan Project

We’ve reported here on the progress of the MiniActive Youth in decorating and cleaning up the area of the elementary / secondary school in Silwan.

We’re all proud of their work

Now they’ve finished

Putting on the finishing touches

And we’re proudly displaying their final product. The change is most pronounced when we show you the before and after pictures. Here’s one:

Before and after

And here’s another:

A second before and after picture

And a third, this time on garbage receptacles:

It’ll even be fun to take out the trash

Can’t wait to see their projects in other parts of the city. Many many thanks and congratulations on a job well done!

Much more pleasant learning environment!

The Silwan boys school event thanked MiniActive for their efforts, which are translated in this post:

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for their continued support of this project. Many thanks also to the Tambour paint company, which donated the paint.

Here’s the post in Arabic presenting the final product:

Naomi Roff2016-09-10T11:54:52+00:00August 17th, 2016|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

MiniActive Women and Youth Improving the Environment in Silwan

We wrote here about about a new group of MiniActive Youth. On July 19 they started action. First stop was beside the boys’ elementary school and boys’ middle school in Silwan. Here’s some pictures:

MiniActive Youth summer 2016

They started working on the area that borders the schools. First they cleaned up the space.

Cleaning up the work area

And then they started painting. First they needed to paint the wall white.

Painting the wall

And then the decoration. Because it’s adjacent to a school, they painted images of Winnie the Pooh,

Winnie the Pooh

SpongeBob Square Pants, Bambi and others, universal characters for children the world over.

SpongeBob, Bambi

Here’s a compilation of “before” and “after,” as well as in between.

Showing the progression

And here’s the first post from the MiniActive Facebook page (in Arabic):

But they didn’t stop there.

Here come the Smurfs too!

A few days later, shaded from the heat, they continued painting favorite characters.

Work to be proud of

Here’s more pictures from the work in progress. The July 26 Facebook post (in Arabic):

And on the next day you can see the progress that they made:

They continue to make progress – in decorating more parts of the outside wall.

Every school should be decorated like this

Or in painting garbage receptacles nearby.

Making even throwing away the trash more pleasant

Notice the graffiti on the wall above the garbage receptacle. Thanks to MiniActive women and the work of the Jerusalem Municipality, this, too has been removed.

MiniActive women and youth, improving the environment in Silwan

Here’s the link to the MiniActive Facebook post (in Arabic):

So great to see the progress! I’m sure we’re not the only ones.

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for their continued support of this project. Many thanks also to the Tambour paint company, which donated the paint.

Naomi Roff2016-08-26T14:41:40+00:00August 9th, 2016|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

New Group of MiniActive Youth Underway

You can never be too young to learn to positively change your environment.

New group of MiniActive Youth

Using that mantra, a new group of MiniActive Youth began today. There are 32 girls aged 10 – 16 in this cohort. They came from all over East Jerusalem to the Abna al-Quds Community Center in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City.

Discussing in small groups

Today, they learned about the different activities of MiniActive in general, and about what other groups of MiniActive Youth have done in the past. You can read about it here on our web site, or here on our blog.

Introduction to MiniActive

They also discussed different options of what they can do. Among other things, they’ll be doing projects in Issawiya and Silwan area. We can hardly wait to show pictures!

Discussing different options

Here’s the Facebook post (in Arabic) from the MiniActive Facebook page:

Naomi Roff2016-08-26T13:13:35+00:00July 13th, 2016|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

MiniActive – Communicating to Improve Activism

Activists who can effectively communicate with service providers are can improve the efficacy of their activism.

The graduation ceremony

That was the reasoning behind the Hebrew Courses that over 150 Palestinian MiniActive women and girls took this past year at Hebrew University, as part of the Speaking Hebrew initiative.

Class picture

This past week, on June 2, they received graduation certificates.

Another class poses for pictures

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for their continuing support of the program.

And here’s the Facebook post in Arabic:

Naomi Roff2018-09-01T07:20:19+00:00June 12th, 2016|Blog, Courses, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Language Center, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|