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BADDAWI CENTER
Location:
Al Baddawi Camp is located in Northern Lebanon, over a hilly area 3 km from the city of Tripoli. The area of the camp is approximately 300,000m2, with an estimated population of 16,198 residents; the majority came from villages in the Galilee area in Northern Palestine.
History:
The Lebanese government in accordance with the International Red Cross selected this land and the camp was established there in 1956. During the eighties, the camp witnessed a substantial increase in its population.
• As a result of the Israeli invasion in 1982, a number of Palestinian camps were destroyed, necessitating its inhabitants to seek refuge in other safer camps. Al Baddawi received a number of displaced people from the camps of Beirut and Southern Lebanon.
During the camp's war and the sieges imposed on the Beirut and southern camps on 1985, an additional wave comprising hundreds of people reached Al Baddawi camp. This situation motivated the popular committee of the camp and the Department of Palestinian refugee's Affairs to build additional housing units to solve the problem of those displaced families.
Camp Conditions:
Social Conditions:
Al Baddawi camp is spread across four sections: A, B, C and D.
Unemployment is high in El Baddawi camp due to the following reasons:
1. Depriving the Palestinians in Lebanon of their civil rights, primarily their right to work which hinders majority of Palestinian professionals from finding jobs. Most camp inhabitants are daily waged workers, or have small private businesses inside the camp.
2. Dismissing all the Palestinian employees and laborers from Kuwait and the Gulf countries after the Gulf war.
3. Reducing all services provided by the PLO (since its withdrawal from Lebanon in 1982) and the UNRWA.
Beit Atfal Assumoud Center:
The center was established in 1987 through a sponsorship program, later in 1991 a new social cultural center was constructed through support from the Malaysian Sociological Research Center and the Malaysian government.
Services:
The center provides the following services for orphaned children and others from families categorized as hardship cases:
Family happiness project: This is based on a sponsorship program for the families and children in need whom lost one or both parents and those suffering from difficult socio-economic situation. Monthly financial assistance is offered to families, and they benefit from a wide range of programs and services provided through this project, such as.
Social services: Manifested in monthly visits to the families and reporting their social, educational and health problems.
Educational services, including: training courses such as computer, English, embroidery etc.
Recreational activities, including: art groups (drama, singing and folkloric dancing), sports groups including football and Ping-Pong teams, summer camps etc.
Cultural activities: such as library services, creative writing published in a periodical magazine entitled Assanable, in addition to activities related to transmitting the Palestinian culture and heritage to the new generation.
Kindergarten: The kindergarten operates three classes receiving 75 children aged between 3-6 years old. The objective of the program is to ensure that the children develop physically, mentally and socially and are prepared for further education. This service is available for children aged between 3-6 years old.
Dental Clinic: This serves the children and the center staff in addition to a number of other KGs inside the camp. It provides dental treatment and plays an educational role in raising the children's and parents awareness concerning oral hygiene.
Family Guidance Center: This center was established in January 2006 in Baddawi camp providing mental health care to the entire community at a very minimal cost. This unique service came as a respond to the hardships and problems stemming from the war, massacres, repeated displacement, arrests, sharp economic problems accompanied by a high rate of unemployment. This project offers psychological counseling and treatment, such as:
• Parental Guidance
• Child and adult psychotherapy
• Speech therapy
• A Class for Girls with Special Needs: Established in 2002, its aim to provide assistance to a number of girls with learning difficulties, stemming from different causes, providing them the chance to learn and obtain particular skills. The numbers of beneficiaries are approximately 15 girls between 13-18 years old.