Landscape Architect Articles

A Playground for Bethelhem09-01-03 | News

A Playground for Bethelhem

The lot at the Dar Al-Kalima School, site of PfP’s first playground.

Playgrounds are ubiquitous in the U.S. Go to most any city neighborhood and you?EUR??,,????'???re find a residential park with playground equipment; not far away you?EUR??,,????'???ll also find a good-sized city park with plenty of grass and the accompanying playground paraphernalia; not to mention the playgrounds at the many grade schools and middle schools nearby.

But, of course, there are some cities in this world where children don?EUR??,,????'???t have a neighborhood playgrounds. Imagine, for instance, being a Palestinian child growing up in Bethlehem.

Susan Abulhawa, who resides in Yardely, Pa., with her four year old daughter, is the founder of the not-for-profit organization ?EUR??,,????'??Playgrounds for Palestine (PfP).?EUR??,,????'?? LASN contacted Susan to hear her story first-hand, but she was, unfortunately, out of the country, but gave us permission via email to tell her story in words and pictures.

The workman have only pick-axes and shovels to dig the postholes.

Susan was born in Kuwait to Palestinian refugees who fled the country during the 1967 war. She spent two and one-half years in an orphanage in East Jerusalem in the early 1980s, and came to the U.S. when she was 13. She has a master?EUR??,,????'???s degree in biomedical science and works in pharmaceutical research. She also volunteers her time to assist human rights groups.

She formed PfP after returning to visit her home in Jerusalem after 20 years away. She found the life of a the Palestinian children ?EUR??,,????'??profoundly heartbreaking.?EUR??,,????'?? That was the impetuous to build playgrounds in Palestine.

After a year?EUR??,,????'???s effort, PfP has built its first playground in Bethlehem. A year? Yes, it took a year just to get the necessary paperwork and clearances to have the playground equipment shipped from the American Playground Corporation.

The playground after three full days of work is almost complete, but Susan and Mark must return to the U.S. Curfews further delayed the playground’s completion.

The playground equipment finally arrived in November 2002. Ms. Abulhawa and Mark Miller, a PFP affiliate, after three hours and five security checks (just on the U.S. side), flew to Israel to oversee the installation. Mark, a first time visitor to the Holy Land, penned a diary of the experience. [Editor?EUR??,,????'???s note: The construction details are gleaned from Mark?EUR??,,????'???s online diary.]

The site for the Bethlehem playground was a school operated by the Evangelical Lutheran Church. The plan was to have the playground ready for Christmas, however, that hope was thwarted by Israeli closures and curfews. Indeed, Bethlehem had been under curfew for 52 days over the previous two months; the workmen who would install the playground had been able to work only eight days during those two months.

With the curfew finally lifted, and no idea when it might be re-imposed, the first day of work lasted well into the Bethlehem night.

When work finally starts, it is labor intensive. There are apparently no posthole diggers in Palestine. The workmen make do with pickaxes and shovels. A job that should take minutes takes hours.

But the workers are inventive. They built a brace from wood scraps, as lumber is scarce. Poles are placed, a deck is attached, and work continues after sunset under the illumination of a single light. The center section is completed, and a brace holds the cement footings to set over night.

More cement is poured the next day, and all but two of the support poles erected.

Though the work is not yet completed, Susie and Mark must return to the U.S. Mark is confident that the workers can finish the project, but he still spends the night looking at the playground drawings and working out the final construction details. Susie and Mark review the plans the next day with two of the workers, Nabeel and Khalil. Susie translates while Mark explains how the last two poles go into place to hold the horizontal climb. All the diagrams and parts are put in order.

Susan Abulhawa and Khalil install a handrail to the play apparatus.

As they head to the airport, Mark?EUR??,,????'???s thoughts turn to the children who will play on the equipment and his own children. ?EUR??,,????'??Mostly, I thought about the children. I thought about how lucky my childhood had been and how lucky my own children have been.?EUR??,,????'??

As of this writing, August 5, 2003, two more PfP playgrounds are being manufactured in the U.S. for shipment to two refugee camps in Gaza in late August 2003.

For more information contact:
Susan Abulhawa
P.O. Box 559
Yardley, PA 19067