Our Mission

We help create safe and supportive spaces where children, youth and other community members can learn, thrive, and grow. Through our educational, artistic and recreational programs, we especially aim to empower Palestinian children and youth who have grown up in a context of violence and occupation, giving them the tools they need to access a better future.

Our Values

Children’s Rights

We are driven by a commitment to the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. We believe that all children have the right to education, health, and security. Through our programs, we work to create a safe environment for Palestinian children and youth to learn new skills, express their ideas, develop confidence, and expand their opportunities.

Gender Equality

We strive to ensure that girls and young women have equal access to the activities we provide. The majority of our students are female, participating in a wide range of activities, from English and computer classes to gymnastics and photography. And with women leading our English and French Departments, female members of staff have a prominent voice in the needs assessment, design, and implementation of our programs as well.

Community

Project Hope is a grassroots organization that draws its strength from Palestinian leadership and a broad international network of dedicated volunteers, alumni, and supporters. We prioritize clear and open dialogue between Palestinian and international staff to ensure that programs are meeting and responding to local needs. Community participation has also been essential to Project Hope’s growth and reach. We work with over 40 local partner centers in Nablus, surrounding villages, and refugee camps, bringing classes and activities to communities most in need, and helping local community centers build capacity.

Click here for the registered legal objective of our registered Canadian charity, Humanitarian Opportunities for Peace & Education.

Learn more

Learn more about how you can contribute to our work or volunteer with us in Palestine.

Our Story

The idea of Project Hope was born in the midst of the Second Intifada. After-school activities were the best way to keep children away from the streets, from danger. To normalize their lives as much as possible.

Samah Atout, co-founder

A city under siege

In 2003, Nablus was a city under siege. Tanks patrolled the streets. Checkpoints divided neighborhoods. Tens of thousands of families were trapped in their homes by curfews and gunfire. While hundreds were killed and thousands more injured, countless others were traumatized as they witnessed their home’s destruction or the murder of a loved one. In a city where 60% of the population is younger than 19, many of these witnesses where children.

An international humanitarian NGO

It was against this backdrop that two Palestinians and a Canadian came together to found Project Hope. With little more than an idea, a shoestring budget and a laptop, they started bringing classes to children who were unable to get to school. They built relationships with community centers and local Palestinian volunteers. They recruited volunteer teachers from around the globe, to bring the world outside Nablus to Palestinians trapped inside.

The international volunteers are able to help children to play, to have fun, to live everyday lives. They give them stability when the world has been so often shattered around them.

Jeremy Wildeman, co-founder

Project Hope today

As the years passed, Project Hope grew at an exponential rate, earning grants and receiving generous donations that enabled the employment of a large Palestinian staff, as well as the transformation of its offices into a two-story Education Center — home to five classrooms, a language library, a computer education lab, a community Net Café free and open to the public, and plenty of room for our monthly speaker series. Today Project Hope serves near 1000 students per month and hosts more than 100 international volunteers annually. Classes consistently average between 10 and 15 students each, and range from Business English to Graphic Novel Design to Yoga.

Looking ahead

Things are quieter in Nablus today, but important community rebuilding remains to be done. While the streets of the city are quite safe, Israeli Occupation Forces still make nightly incursions into the refugee camps on the outskirts of town, where many of Project Hope’s students live. Education remains vital to the futures of young Palestinians, and huge needs persist, especially in the camps. In addition, we plan to further expand our programs into rural villages and other outlying areas, including Tulkarem, Qalqilya, and Hebron. It has long been Project Hope’s goal to bring activities to where they are most needed, and these cities and villages remain isolated due to the effects of occupation.

Project Hope has become an integral part of the Nablus community, built from the grassroots up by local volunteers and staff, and supported globally by countless acts of charity and hours of service. Project Hope exists thanks to the generosity of those with a common commitment to the rights of the child. Join us, and help us bring hope to the children and youth of Nabus for years to come.

Donate Now

Your support will help us provide essential classes in languages, arts, technology and sports for the children and youth of Nablus.

Learn how you can contribute online today.

An International Humanitarian NGO

Project Hope is headquartered in Nablus, Palestine, supported by our large and expert Palestinian staff. Project Hope also has offices at Beit Zatoun in Toronto, Canada, and is registered as a charity in both Canada and Scotland.

Staff

Abdulhakim Sabbah – Director, Nablus Office

Abdulhakim Sabbah has served as the Director of Project Hope since May 2005. He has been instrumental in the growth of Project Hope over the last several years in terms of fundraising and program expansion, in particular in developing Project Hope’s French language offerings and cultivating relationships with the French speaking community, both locally and abroad. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Nablus’ An-Najah University in English Literature and French Language.

Lemma Ibrahim – Director, Canada Office

Lemma Ibrahim graduated from the University of Toronto with a specialist degree in Urban and Economic Geography. She first joined Project Hope as a member of the Canadian Board of Trustees in 2009. In April 2010 she left the board to serve as Administrator in Project Hope’s Toronto office. Finally, in April 2011, Lemma was promoted to the position of Executive Director of Project Hope, Canada.

Salem Hantoli – Treasurer

Salem Hantoli has served as Project Hope’s Treasurer since its inception. He established Project Hope’s financial system and is responsible for financial policy and various management tasks. Salem has Degrees and Certificates in Yield Management and Hotels Operations from several different universities.

Sandy Marshall – Program Advisor

Sandy Marshall serves as the Program Advisor at Project Hope, helping to maintain communication between the local Palestinian team and our supporters and partners abroad. Sandy started out as an international volunteer in the spring of 2005, organizing drama/art therapy activities and creative writing classes in refugee camps, the Old City, and nearby villages. Over the years, Sandy continued volunteering, assisting with volunteer recruitment and training, and making occasional visits back to Nablus. In 2010, Sandy officially joined Project Hope as a part-time staff member.

Sandy holds a BA in Politics from the Queen’s University of Belfast, a MA in Near Eastern Studies from the University of Arizona, and studied Arabic at al-Quds University. He is currently completing his PhD in Human Geography with the University of Kentucky, conducting research on spaces of childhood and youth in refugee camps. His research uses participatory documentary video, journaling, and photo-voice techniques with children and youth from the camps.