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Introduction
Welcome to Hope Flowers!
This is a school working for peace-building, trauma reduction, democratic development, community and the furthering of human rights.
It serves refugee and disadvantaged children in Palestine, and those traumatized by conflict or experiencing hardship-related learning difficulties.
It is based in Bethlehem, Palestine, a small city well-known as a holy place. Nowadays it is severely affected by the world's longest-lasting conflict.
A combination of good guiding principles, high educational standards, dedicated staff and parents, the pressure of need and innovative methods have made Hope Flowers a leader in its field.
Life in Palestine is challenging and, even today, Hope Flowers School is not safe and secure.
How it all started
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Watch an 11-minute video introducing the Hope Flowers School:
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It started in 1984 as a kindergarten founded by the late Hussein Issa.
It started, as Hussein once said, from 'below zero'. It scraped through its first few years with little more than good intentions and hard work.
By 1994, following the first intifada (Palestinian uprising), it had become a secondary school in a new building in al Khader in the west of Bethlehem. It began attracting interest and support from the world over.
Challenges
Things were greatly set back during the second intifada of 2000-04 and the wider social effects arising from it.
Children were withdrawn from school, the economy collapsed, there were troop incursions and road closures, and overseas support declined. But in response this brought a rebirth at Hope Flowers.
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Breakthrough
By 2004 the Hope Flowers Center for Education and Community Development was started, focusing on adult education, professional and teacher training and community development.
Hope Flowers Center in Deheisheh now trains teachers from UNRWA and other schools elsewhere in Palestine and the Middle East, and its knowledge and experience are gradually being spread internationally.
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Our approach
As Hussein Issa once said, every act of violence begins with an unhealed wound.
We suggest this is an effective, economic and all-round approach to 're-setting' the social agenda in any society scarred by war and hardship.
The founder
Hussein Issa was a refugee born in 1947 at the time of the Nakba in 1948, a disaster and time of ethnic cleansing for Palestinians. His family came from Ramle near Tel Aviv, in what is now Israel. They lost their property and fled to the Deheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem. He grew up in poor conditions, educated himself, studied social work and education at Bethlehem University and evolved into a social visionary and educationalist. After founding Hope Flowers and running it for 16 years, he died in 2000, aged 52.
How we survive
The school relies on donations big and small from people, trusts and institutions worldwide. The recent global economic downturn has made things more difficult, and we are renewing our efforts to keep going and find new funding sources.
We rely on the dedication of staff and supporters, who believe in what we're doing and want to be a part of it.
We invite you to join our mailing list or even to
visit Bethlehem and stay at the school as a guest.
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