On Tuesday the 24th of August, we organized the voting day for the IBDA' Youth Program* which is in partnership with DROSOS FOUNDATION, of August. 14 women and men received training as part of the program in the following topics:
- Life and communication skills
- Identifying community needs and priorities
- Creative thinking in finding solutions to local community issues
- Local resource mobilization
- Social Responsibility
- Formulating ideas initiative
After working with the initiatives, 2 were selected on the voting day by a committee of activists and experts from Gaza. With a voting percentage of 60% for the committee, and the remaining 40% for public voting through our Facebook page.
These were the initiatives that presented their pitch:
- Fresh Fish: aims to farm fish using the Azula plant. They will also employ organic waste in farming.
- Volunteers without Borders: providing training for volunteers in different topics to enable them to use their skills in continuously evolving fields.
- Our Green Land: producing herbs to aid Palestinian farmers in reducing the use of pesticides.
- This Sea is ours: to create a restaurant for the youth cooperative: This Sea is ours, in order to generate income. The cooperative also works on upcycling waste collected on the shores of Gaza.
- Shams: developing a learning center targeted towards local talent, with a focus on preserving the Palestinian identity and heritage,
- Blue filter: aims to purify water from nitrates and other pollutants for clean irrigation using a fern plant and a biofilter consisting of treated plant seeds.
- Our Land is our heritage: A bus that is painted with Palestinian symbols of our heritage, that roams around the Gaza Strip with activities and performances such as Dabbkeh, and theater.
- Together we can: aims to empower people with hearing disabilities, and integrating them into the local community while highlighting their important role in the Palestinian economy. The initiative will also bring teacher to make Sign Language more accessible within local organizations.
The final voting results were in favor of This Sea is ours, and Our Green Land.
We are so happy that the community voted for these initiatives, and we wish them the best!
As for the rest of the initiatives, Dalia will partner with local organizations to provide them with support through local community resources mobilization.
*The voting day for IBDA' and WSW were organized together on the same day.
