LOCATION: Jinsafut Village, Qalqiliya Governorate
Jinsafut is a 2,000-person village in Qalqiliya Governorate with little more to offer its inhabitants than a working school system. The Jinsafut Youth Club was established to provide urgently needed educational and recreational support to the village’s youth. Housed in a three storey building donated by the local council, the club ran an over-populated kindergarten, a small computer lab and a humble training hall. A Community Leadership Empowerment Program award enabled the club to refurbish the kindergarten and start a children’s library. Several women soon joined the club as they saw how these new facilities piqued their children’s eagerness to attend school and boosted their academic performance. As a result, six of the nine Jinsafut community members who led the club’s strategic planning process were women. One woman pointedly noted that this was the first time she felt ownership of this community space. An assessment of the club’s needs led this committee to improve its training equipment and training facilities. The Jinsafut Youth Club continues to involve the community in planning and offering activities that engage the village’s youth.