Art, Music and Culture

Children Need Arts Education

With all the barriers to education in the communities where Anera works, the importance of art, music and culture programming is often overlooked. But occupation, poverty, blockade and displacement create environments rife with hostility and hopelessness.

Art and music in Palestine are an important part of cultural identity, but many children do not have any access to this type of education. In Lebanon, hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees who have experienced trauma have no outlet to express themselves and start to heal. Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese need to feel connected to their peers and their heritage, but are being denied access to the universal language of music and the arts.

Connecting Communities through Expressive Arts

Anera recognizes that music and arts education should go hand-in-hand with academics as a way to broaden a child’s horizon and strengthen personal development. Giving people of varied languages and cultures an arts experience can help them communicate and unite in their shared humanity.

Anera works with local arts, music and cultural organizations in the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon to encourage artistic expression and learning. Art and music are a key element of our early childhood development initiative in Palestine. Thanks to your support, we also organize creative activities and art classes in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon to let refugees release tensions that can build up under difficult living conditions.

Last year, Anera implemented summer camps at 10 preschools across Gaza that utilize expressive arts to provide psycho-social support for children.

How It Works

  • Arts Curriculum

    Anera coordinates special trainings to help teachers integrate arts into the curriculum.

  • Community Involvement

    We involve parents and the greater community in arts programs to expand appreciation for arts and heritage.

  • Music Education

    Your donations support local music education through offering scholarships and providing musical instruments.

  • Creative Courses

    We host creative classes, like dabke dancing and embroidery, for teens in Lebanon's refugee camps.

  • Summer Camps

    Our staff organize summer camps and involve local artists and teachers in bringing music, art and drama to children through fun activities.

FILM

Anera works with Al Kamandjati Association to train teachers in expressive arts and bring creative programming into schools and summer camps,