“Everybody is a changemaker. Nobody has the right to say, “I can’t do anything,” because otherwise every day that comes will continue to be worse than the day that goes. This is not a heritage that anyone can be proud to leave to our children and the generations to come.” Dr. Abdelfattah Abusrour, Founder of Al Rowwad.

Al Rowwad is a pioneering arts, education, wellness, and skills building community center in the heart of Aida refugee camp, just outside of Bethlehem. Despite very difficult circumstances made worse daily by the Occupation, Al Rowwad has managed to leverage theater, dance, photography, cooking, and music production to foster a positive, empowering environment for the area’s youth and adults alike.

Over the years, Dr. Abusrour, the organization’s founder, has taken the project from a small space in his parents’ basement to a multi-story community center that they hope to expand into a larger facility which will include a vocational training institute and music studio among other spaces. Al Rowwad also has a mobile music and education bus which they take to neighboring villages so children cut off from government schools by the Wall can play and learn with locally produced educational material. Their goal has been to work with the community’s creativity and entrepreneurial spirit to bring a sense of hope directly to the people.

Learn more about Al-Rowwad at: http://www.alrowwad.org/en/