Playgrounds are ubiquitous in the U.S. Go to most any city neighborhood and you're find a residential park with playground equipment; not far away you'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'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 "Playgrounds for Palestine (PfP)." 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. 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'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 "profoundly heartbreaking." That was the impetuous to build playgrounds in Palestine. After a year'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 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's note: The construction details are gleaned from Mark's online diary.]