Rawdat el-Zuhur (Palestine)

Rawdat El Zuhur (Arabic for “Garden of Flowers”) is a primary school for Palestinian children, both Christian and Muslim, in East Jerusalem.

Read the most recent newsletter from Rawdat El Zuhur

Rawdat El Zuhur was established in 1952 by Elizabeth Nasir, a teacher and social worker who dedicated her life to helping children in need.  The school began in Elizabeth’s home and has grown into one of East Jerusalem’s most notable co-educational institutions.  Our school now serves 221 students, and employs 23 teachers and four workers.  It aims at bringing up a new generation that is aware of the principles of good citizenship and is concerned for the environment, capable of thinking creatively, and can analyze logically and critically.  Students at Rawdat El Zuhur should be ready to offer and accept positive criticism, and excel in performance; and, additionally, should be equipped with the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes to assume leadership in a democratic society which they will develop and preserve.  It serves mainly the lower-income community.

Rawdat El Zuhur seeks to provide:

• A distinguished school in terms of its quality services in the field of pre- and basic schooling. 
• A school that provides equitable opportunities for the children of Jerusalem, and is characterized by its relationship with the society in general and parents in particular. 
• A school where research, reading, and the use of modern technology and computers form essential components of the learning process, just as music, arts, and sports form an essential component of the extracurricular programs and activities. 
• A school where teachers are able to deal with individual differences between students and to provide a safe and innovative environment for students and children. 

The economic downturn and the occupation continue to take a toll on the financial resources available to Rawdat El Zuhur.  They want to continue to offer a quality education to marginalized and disadvantaged children in East Jerusalem, an education that not only includes an academic curriculum, but also the arts, physical education, life-skills, and values.  However, the current financial climate makes it harder and harder to give these children in need the kind of well-rounded education that is the hallmark of Rawdat El Zuhur.   

Every year, MANI (the Jerusalem Municipal Education Administration) rejects a large number of Palestinian children from East Jerusalem who want access to the public school system.  Only about half the Palestinian children in East Jerusalem attend municipal schools.  Nearly 40,000 rely on private schools such as Rawdat El Zuhur.  Today, the neglect of the public education system in East Jerusalem is reaching a crisis point.   

Gifts for Rawdat El Zuhur help support teacher salaries, tuition aid, rent, and utilities.  Rawdat El Zuhur’s needs also include maintenance and upgrades such as repairing cracked walls and replacing tile in the nursery play area.

The Global Ministries Child Sponsorship Program also works with Rawdat El Zuhur.  A monthly gift of $30.00 will sponsor a child at Rawdat el Zuhur.  If you would like information on sponsoring a child through the Global Ministries Child Sponsorship Program, please click here or contact Phyllis Richards by email at RichardP@ucc.org or you may phone her at 216-736-3515.