‘I am Growing II, لى شجرة’ in Gaza
Newsletter, December 2021
Children involved in ‘I am Growing II’ planting trees in Gaza, Palestine, 2021.
I called my tree ‘Sama’, and I visit Sama more often to water her. I started to notice that there are more leaves growing on Sama every day and it makes me happy. I learned from “I am Growing II, لى شجرة” about protectecting my environment by planting trees . I also learned that trees can breathe.”
Sama El Masry
“I visit my tree every few days and I named it “the tree of life”. Everytime I visit my tree, I notice that it’s growing. During the ‘I am Growing II, لى شجرة‘ workshops, I learned how to take care of my tree, water it properly and when to trim it if needed. I can’t wait to see my tree grow as big as me”
Youssef Abo-Mandeel
When did ‘I am Growing, لى شجرة‘ start?
Menaqua started the ‘I am Growing’ programme in Gaza in 2019 to involve schoolchildren in greening a degraded playing field. The programme expanded to increase children’s awareness of nature because we believe that achieving sustainable tree planting starts with our children.
The programme uses a combination of education and art to encourage and inspire young children to learn about trees and the environment. Together with our Gazan partner Theatre Day Productions (TDP), a local theatre school, we organized several activities to engage the children and nurture their creativity. 
Introducing ‘I am Growing II, لي شجرة’
After the success of the initial ‘I am Growing قلبي اخضر’ programme, we collaborated with TDP again in 2021 to introduce a follow-up programme, ‘I am Growing II, لى شجرة’.
Part of the programme involved visiting nurseries where children saw and learned about different types of plants and trees as well as how to plant and maintain trees. It also included reflection sessions where the children discussed what they had noticed during their visit and expressed their experiences through painting.
TDP staff guided the children throughout the workshops and trained the children in animated film production. The children came up with the films’ themes and developed seven animations related to trees and planting trees. The films can be foundhere. Menaqua gifted each of the 300 children who participated in the workshops with a tree to plant and maintain.
“We want to give children the chance to grow and to grow their own tree while we support them.” – Jeroen Kosterman, Director of Menaqua
‘I am Growing II, لى شجرة’ concluded with a screening at TDP of the children’s animated films. This sparked some interesting discussions between the children and the Menaqua team. The event ended on an inspiring and cheerful note following a performance by a Dutch and Palestinian musician.
To know more about the “I am Growing II, لى شجرة” project Click here
