The 35 members of the Birzeit Senior Citizen Center come together to read Al-Ayam newspaper; share bible or other readings; play chess, dominoes, bingo and cards; take aerobics classes; and eat hot meals together. The BSCC also continues its outreach of delivering food to those who are unable to come to the Center. The sense of family and community that we build at the BSCC is evident even in the simple contributions that members bring with them – food to cook (beef, chicken, rice, etc) and coffee and tea to share with one another. When a student group from the Catholic school in Birzeit visited, one of the students made a speech, saying, “My beloved grandfathers and grandmothers … you are our enjoyment, our past, our present and our future. We are proud of you for raising our fathers, mothers and us very well. You are the roots of our town, Birzeit. We know how hard you worked to build new generations to continue your journey in the best way of life. With God’s help, will we will live up to your expectation!”
Here are some photos of recent events:
The staff and volunteers at BSCC are looking forward to implementing the ideas of the elders and their families, such as:
- publishing activities and news of the BSCC on the website and Facebook;
- having a week-long summer camp for the elderly that includes activities, a medical day, entertainment, and interaction with other organizations for seniors
- creating an annual magazine for the center describing its activities and highlighting the talents of seniors with photos, stories, poems, and wisdom
- Hosting a program or competition for talented seniors in Palestine
- Making appearances on TV channels and radio to create awareness about the issues that senior citizens face and the rights that they have and to encourage other communities to honor their elders
- Creating an “Ask your grandma a question” advice column on the website
