newsletter n.16 - Gerusalemme

Job Creation
Cutting edge training centers for young people in the Old City
Through the Damascus Gate a group of students rush
through the scents and colors of the market. Some
walk alone while others stroll in noisy groups. They
enter the Suq Khan Ez’Zeit, pass the seventh station
and turn on Sharia Anbat Al’Sarayah. The students
of the Orphanage Industrial School and those of the
Community Centre Al’Sarayah are ready to start their
lessons.
Thanks to COOPI’s project “Intervention for the
Improvement of educational opportunities in East
Jerusalem”, funded by the Italian Development Cooperation
through the emergency channel with a contribution of 70 000
Euros, both training centers are now able to offer students
new and advanced tools for their academic and professional
and the subsequent construction of the wall, have robbed it
of its original popularity, by restricting the accessibility only
to the students of East Jerusalem. But the political situation
is not the only aspect that has changed over the years; the
demands of the market have changed radically as well, making
the two-year course of typography, currently offered by the
center, no longer in a position to train students adequately
to meet the needs of the market. New computers, advanced
software and a touch of modernity have been the aim of our
project. From June 2011, COOPI has been working closely
with teachers to design a new and advanced laboratory of
Graphic Design. Where once the Pasha’s horses were tied up
and the Ottoman officials used to stand, we find today the new
printing workshop where students acquire new techniques
through the usage of modern equipment and software. The
project also includes a preliminary course run by a young
training.
The Orphanage Industrial School - a magnificent building
created as the Ottoman Empire’s government offices in
Palestine- is a professional institute that has been operating
since 1924 for the training of young people. Its means of
support derive from the offers of printing and craft services
(carpentry, painting and bamboo furniture production) and
the application of meager registration fees. The director,
Omar Gharabli, shows, with regret, photos of the institute
in the 50s when Arab students coming from Saudi Arabia ,
Egypt and Palestine flocked from every place to study at the
renowned Dar Al’Aytam every year. The political situations,
Palestinian graphic designer, expert in the management of
workshops designed to encourage the creativity and artistic
expression of young people.
Opposite the large gate of the Orphanage, a small iron door
leads us to Al’Sarayah Community Centre, an oasis for
women. An old building from the Ottoman period, the center
offers training courses to women and children and it is selfsustained
through the application of a modest registration
fee for attending the center. In addition to computer science
course, previously supported by COOPI, and a literacy
course, the center has a room for teaching hairdressing and
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NEWSLETTER N.16