Middle East

Childhood trauma in the Middle East is complex. That’s why we invest in partnerships designed to best meet the unique needs of every local community we work in. Sometimes deep healing is best done in settings designed just for Arab and Palestinian children. Other times, we advance peace through bilingual classrooms that unite Jewish, Christian, and Muslim children.

Matt King photo, classroom

Studies show that children who experience toxic stress are more likely to suppress their capabilities for empathy and act out violently as teenagers and adults. But research also clearly shows that holistic education inoculates toxic stress, reversing its damage.

reGeneration invests in trauma-informed education for children caught in the crosshairs of conflict and toxic stress located throughout the Middle East. Where there is childhood suffering, reGeneration aspires to bring tools for self-healing.

At reGeneration, we seed the next generation of peacemakers by providing an education that heals to every Jewish, Christian, and Muslim child.

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Two Peoples, One School

At Ein Bustan we are two peoples, two languages, two different cultures. Yet when I bring my children to the kindergarten in the morning and see the children sitting, playing, building, singing, hiking, eating and working together, they are equal, and it’s not make-believe. This togetherness and the mutual wish to create a joint reality is what brought my family to the kindergarten. At school, we are all equal, and we all have a heart that can speak, listen, and be compassionate.”

– Ester Springut, a parent at reGeneration partner school Ein Bustan
Ester
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Encountering the Other

reGeneration brought The Way of Council to our bilingual Arabic Hebrew school. The Way of Council is a way to become aware that the person sitting across from me is a person just like me, who was born an empty vessel, and whom life has filled with different content, which is not necessarily the ultimate truth. I could have been born as Muhammed or Fatma, and I would then think as they do. So I think that within me I am actually a little bit Muhammed and a little bit Fatma, a little bit Amir or Rachel. And a little bit Gidi.”

– Gidi Hyman, a teacher at reGeneration partner school Ein Bustan
Gidi
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Uniting Communities

With reGeneration, we created a Waldorf School based on the beauty of Arab culture and language, which also teaches Hebrew and English. It is a school where all the different religions and cultures of Arab people are represented and work together: Muslims, Christians, Druze, and Bedouins. The idea of bringing all these children together in one school is not the norm...but it is a model for how to integrate Waldorf education into the Arab culture.”

– Lana Nasrallah, cofounding teacher of reGeneration partner school Tamrat El Zeitoun
Lana
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Training Crisis-Zone Ready Teachers

Before I became a Waldorf teacher, I taught in public schools where the children rarely leave their desks. The Arab children especially have problems holding their pencils because they move their bodies so little…Thanks to my reGeneration scholarship, I became more sensitive about the need for children to be held in a protected space. Upon my return to school, I plan to find a way to build a separate area for our young children, so they have a more sheltered space than what they have now.”

– Aida Awad, a founding teacher at reGeneration partner school Tamrat El Zeitoun
Aida
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Transforming the Holy Land

Fear presents a choice whether we recognize it or not: to love or to hate. If we choose to love, we have sparked the first flame of creation. We are propelled into right action. House of Hope is honored to partner with reGeneration to continue our right action and bring transformational healing through holistic education to children in the Holy Land.”

– Milad Vosgueritchian, co-founder and Chairman of reGeneration partner school House of Hope
Milad