Giving Compass' Take:

• Mohammed Abu Sulaiman shares the story of schoolgirls in Gaza who built a library with help from UNICEF funding. 

• How can funders find grassroots projects like this one to support? 

• Learn more about efforts to create IT jobs for women in Gaza.  

There are one million children in Gaza, yet hardly any sports fields or playgrounds. And this lack of safe outside play areas especially affects girls. The beach is basically off limits, with terrible sewage pollution. Youth unemployment is over 60 per cent.

Gaza can feel hopeless at times, but a group of schoolgirls have built something truly exciting.

Sokaina Girls School is in Deir al Balah City, in the middle of the Gaza Strip. The girls of the Sokaina school decided they wanted a library. Most schools in Gaza don’t have one. And those that do usually have a limited range of books. The students knew that it wouldn’t be easy – they would be challenging social attitudes about what girls can do – but they wanted to prove that they could create a beautiful library inside their school.

UNICEF gave the girls seed funding of US $300, and they went to the market to buy books.

Today, the library at Sokaina school is open six days a week for all students. Sokaina, like most schools in Gaza, operates double shifts of classes to make up for a shortfall of 232 schools. The Education Ministry has supported the girls’ initiative by providing tables, chairs and more books. And the girls have organized a committee to manage the library and keep adding to their collection.

Read the full article about the library in the Gaza Strip by Mohammed Abu Sulaiman at UNICEF.