Education Palestine Project #31839

Help Traumatized Palestinian Children

by American Friends of the Spafford Children's Center

Project Report | May 14, 2025
Smiles Can Hide Trauma

By Matthew Dayton-Welch and Wendy Whiting Blome | Project Leaders

Puppets talk with the trauma specialist at SCC

The pictures of children at the Spafford Children’s Center (SCC) show happy faces with bright smiles. Images often mask reality. Trauma can be felt, but not visible; experienced, but not acknowledged; recognized, but not treated. Palestinian children in East Jerusalem do not experience the horrors of Gaza or the violence of the West Bank, but they do know trauma. It comes to their neighborhoods when homes are demolished, travel is restricted, and residents are harassed. They constantly witness the ongoing political conflict.

At the SCC children are engaged in learning, art and music activities, and games. That’s what children should be doing. Palestinian children experience different levels and types of trauma, and the specialists at SCC are ready to help. The response to trauma is wholistic including individual and group counseling, storytelling with puppets to help children express their emotions, and artistic opportunities that encourage children to put their hopes and dreams on paper.

At SCC, the large courtyard is constantly active with children painting at easels supervised by a volunteer teacher, or mothers writing their hopes on a balloon and then sharing them with the other mothers to foster unity and solidarity. Inside the SCC youth sit in a circle, back-to-back, to learn about communicating clearly without visual cues.

Please support the American Friends of the Spafford Children’s Center through GlobalGiving at https://goto.gg/31839. Your donations go to fund the services Palestinian children need to grow and thrive.

Thank you for your time; please send any questions to SpaffordUSA@gmail.com.

Learning to communicate without visual cues

SCC artists at work

Mothers share their dreams and find support

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