Jos Sances: Children's Art

This print is 22'' x 22.''

PROJECTS IN PALESTINE: ON THE GROUND

This print was created by Jos Sances, founder and Art Director of Alliance Graphics, to celebrate the work of the Middle East Children's Alliance for its 25th Anniversary.

At the heart of MECA’s work are our partnerships with Palestinian organizations on the ground who identify the needs of children, youth, and families. In the past 25 years, MECA has worked with dozens of community groups.

In 1988, the Middle East Children’s Alliance built a dental clinic in Dheisheh Refugee Camp in the West Bank, at the request of community leaders. In 1999, 2003, and 2005 MECA brought Dheisheh’s youth dance troupe to the US. Proceeds from these dance tours helped to fund a computer center, a women and children’s center, an audio media center, a guesthouse, and the first playground in Dheisheh Camp.

In 2010, MECA began working with the Madaa Center in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. Although Israel police regularly arrest children and adults, and hundreds of homes are destroyed or taken over, the people of Silwan are determined to hold onto their land. MECA helped Madaa build a sports field and a cultural café, which Israeli bulldozers demolished in 2012. MECA raised funds for Madaa to rebuild the café by purchasing a converted home for Madaa activities. The purchases and construction are part of the Silwan community’s strategy to create its own “facts on the ground” and of MECA’s “The Right to Play” project.

Since 2006, MECA has helped to provide psychological support, and sports and arts activities for children in Nuseirate Refugee Camp and throughout Gaza. Much of the art in the censored exhibit “A Child’s View from Gaza” came out of MECA’s “Let the Children Play & Heal” project in schools and community centers, helping children cope with their trauma and grief after the Israeli assault in 2008-2009 by expressing their emotions through drawing.