| NEW YORK - August 5 - On August 6, members of the Ibdaa Youth Dance Troupe will attend an all-day photography workshop, aimed at empowering Palestinian youth to document their life experiences in a refugee camp. Twenty Palestinian girls and boys, aged 15-18, will attend the training on the Lower East Side of New York.
Since 1995, youth from the Ibdaa Cultural Center in Palestine have taken proactive measures to document and condemn human rights abuses. The photography workshop will further their cause, creating a positive space for the youth to learn skills, develop their creativity, and find constructive ways to channel their fears and frustrations into progressive demands for change.
In recent years, members of the Ibdaa Youth Dance Troupe have witnessed a sharp increase in violence in the Deheisheh Refugee Camp in the West Bank, where they live. This year, soldiers have opened fire on children, blockaded families in their homes without access to food or water and denied emergency medical care to the sick and injured. A growing number of children in the camp show signs of trauma, including nightmares, aggressive behavior, spontaneous and seemingly unprovoked hysteria and extreme lethargy bordering on catatonia.
Ibdaa, which means ‘to create something out of nothing,’ is a grassroots initiative of the Deheisheh Refugee Camp in Palestine. Founded in 1995, Ibdaa provides an environment for the camp’s children and young people to develop their ability, creativity and leadership skills through social, cultural and educational activities.
MADRE, an international women’s human rights organization, will host the photography workshop at ABC No Rio from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm on August 6. The photography workshop is only the latest in a series of collaborations between Ibdaa and MADRE. Since 1995, MADRE has worked in partnership with Ibdaa, providing counseling, youth leadership development and human rights education programs. MADRE supports the Ibdaa women’s center, children’s library, kindergarten, youth dance troupe, and media and Internet center.
The August 6 workshop will bring together MADRE staff and members of the Ibdaa Youth Dance Troupe, whose US tour is sponsored by The Middle East Children’s Alliance. On August 5, the Ibdaa Youth Dance Troupe will perform at the Widdi Cultural Center in Brooklyn, NY, their final performance before returning to the Deheisheh Refugee Camp in Palestine.
MADRE is an international women’s human rights organization that works in partnership with women’s community-based groups in conflict areas worldwide. Our programs address issues of sustainable development, community improvement and women’s health; violence and war; discrimination and racism; self-determination and collective rights; women’s leadership development; and human rights education.
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