“I want to be a painter, and I want to earn money as much as I can to help my father, mother, and brothers”.
That is the wish of We’am al-Masalmeh, a 12-year-old introverted, sensitive, witty and talented pupil in the 6th grade. She lives with her parents, 2 brothers and 2 sisters in a small house with only 2 rooms in the al-Azzeh refugee camp, a few kilometers north of Bethlehem. The family is very poor.
We’am had great difficulty with reading and writing. She had low self-esteem, was very shy and did not socialize at all. She was absent minded all the time. After an assessment by the school psychologist, she was enrolled in the learning disabilities sections, where there is more individual attention as the groups are much smaller. One of the approaches that Hope Flowers uses, is to stimulate creativity and self-expression so as to boost the self confidence. We’am soon started improving, and by now she can come along in reading and writing. Her ability to concentrate has improved.
“Now, We’am knows how to write, read, and she paints very beautiful. She is talented, but she needs someone to encourage her to be creative”, her teacher Monfa said. “We’am started to get high grades, and besides, she started doing sports exercises and she enjoys doing this. When she first came to the school, she did not like sport at all.”
We’am says she feels very happy in the school; she likes all the classes. She loves her teachers, and she is encouraging her cousins to also enroll at Hope Flowers School.