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On Tamer Institute
Tamer
Institute's Program Mission:
To contribute to building the
Palestinian society through creating learning environments amongst youth,
children, parents, and teachers by focusing on the invisible aspects of human
growth (social, cultural, and spiritual) and cultural production.
Tamer Institute Philosophy:
Tamer Institute functions under the
conviction that one main purpose of education is to transform patterns of
thinking and aspects of social reality that are unjust and undemocratic.
Transforming reality, however, is not only a rational endeavor but also
involves transformation of attitudes and emotions. It is linked to the
hope that change is possible and that people are responsible for it. The
Institute’s logo - a spring poppy growing through hardened soil - reflects this
hope for human society.
The process of building the civil
society in Palestine essentially requires the community to take an important
role in its welfare at any level possible. This may occur in experimental
and innovative ways according to the means available. However, community
education cannot take place without community action, a problem, an event or a
social issue that focuses people’s efforts in attempting to find solutions or
change the situation. The interaction between these groups of people
while they are in action is community education. Sharing and transferring
the experience of a particular group of people to others is also
essential. The expression of this experience becomes a source of
knowledge, which is what is necessary for growth, development, and change at
the national level.
Tamer Institute's Strategy:
The Institute's mission is achieved
through encouraging reading, writing, dialogue and voluntary work amongst youth
working within small groups involved in community action held together by a
common objective with a tangible end product. The Institute develops the
specific objective and end product through its various projects and activities,
in which youth are invited to participate, each according to his/her interests
and needs. The youth groups formed around the projects are then the main
target group who are offered guidance and training in various issues that
contribute to building their personality on the social, emotional, and
intellectual levels.
Tamer's strategy, which comes as a
response to the urgent needs in the Palestinian community, is often susceptible
to any changes or developments in the Palestinian society; it is flexible and
develops in accordance with society's needs. Youth's input is extremely
important while developing any new program or perspective because eventually
they are the major beneficiaries of our projects that are originally designed
to comply with their needs and interests.
International
Board of Books for Youth (IBBY)
Tamer
Institute has been lobbying to have Palestine become a national section of IBBY
(rather than individual members under Israel). Just recently, with the
support of British and Ireland IBBY, among others, Palestine became a national
section with Tamer Institute being the focal point.
Main Activities of Tamer
Institute:
? Reading Campaign
Tamer's main
activity throughout the year is the National Reading Campaign. Through
this campaign the institute holds many activities throughout the year in which
reading is encouraged. The climax of the campaign is in April where Tamer
Institute organizes with other institutes and CBO's the National Reading Week
(NRW). During the NRW Many activities and workshops are held that
encourage creative writing, reading, drama and the sort. During this week
long festival thousands of youth, children and adults participate in the
workshops.
?
Animating Children's Libraries
A
continuous activity of Tamer Institute is animating children's library
throughout Palestine by providing training for librarians (when they are
available) as well as supplying these libraries with Tamer publications, and
other books of interest when we receive a large donation.
?
Publishing Unit
Every
year Tamer Institute publishes a number of books by local authors and/or
translated foreign books. Our greatest pride every year is "My First
Book", a collection of children's writings and illustrations picked from the
annual competition.
Our publishing unit always aims at
publishing high quality material for children that will motivate them to
read. In 2003, we printed a total of 21 books.
? Youth
Activities
Another
major focus of Tamer Institute is its youth teams. The youth teams are
divided into 4 main groups : Nakheel teams which do voluntary work in their
communities, Yara'at a literary group, Sirb, those who are interested in
photography and Voices from Palestine who are members of an English electronic
newsletter. Through working with youth, we continually offer them training
by people within their field.
Abeer Musleh
Tamer Institute - Palestine.
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