Sajja Salmi, 12 years old, lives in Zaytoun (Eastern Gaza) with her mother and three siblings in a poor house that rainwater leaks into every winter. Sajja’s mother, Sanaa, managed to renovate part of the house but hasn’t been able to pay the debts back yet. The family’s economic situation has been difficult after the death of Sajja’s father during the Israeli assault on Gaza in 2008–09.
For the sixth year now, Sajja has been involved in Mustaqbali activities that have improved her education and her self-confidence. She goes to remedial education classes that have empowered her over the recent years and she is one of the top students in her class. The classes have improved her reading and writing skills, which reflects on her performance in all her school subjects.
“I like to be one of the smartest, that’s why I attend these classes so I can stay excellent at school. My mom told me that when I learn more, I become a good speaker!” says Sajja.
Mustaqbali has also contributed to creating a space for self-expression through co-curricular activities, such as arts. Such activities have been of great benefit to Sajja and have showed her talent in the traditional Dabkeh dance. Recently, Sajja performed Dabkeh in a ceremony presented to a large audience at the end of a Mustaqbali sports activity.
She explained, “I feel so happy when I have Dabkeh training with the rest of the girls. The folkloric dance gives me a sense of freedom!”
Every year the Mustaqbali program provides Sajja, and hundreds of orphans, with requirements for school like uniforms, stationery, and bags, so that Sajja and other children in the program maintain their right to education, from kindergarten and all the way through undergraduate university studies.
The Mustaqbali program was launched in 2009 by the Abraaj Group and Taawon (Welfare Association). It seeks to empower the under-privileged and orphaned children of Gaza after the war, and to provide them with the prospect of a satisfying childhood and accomplished life. The result is the spread of success, hope, and better lives for the children, and in turn, the development of Gaza. Bayt.com has been a supporter of the program since 2012, sponsoring 25 children every year.
