At school in Tawayel

I visited the school in Tawayel, near Aqraba, today. There are 24 children
there from 6 -12. Most of the children live in the village of Tawayel, many
in tin shacks and even in caves. They come to school immaculately turned
out. The school is in Area B, mixed control by the PA and Israel. The
village is in Area C, complete control by Israel. You can see this very
clearly because the local people were allowed to build a road from Aqraba as
far as the school and after that, to the village, is only a stony dirt
track. When I was there this morning a tractor was making its way back up
the hill to Aqraba, having been turned back by Israeli soldiers on threat of
arrest. His "crime" was to go to help people do some work on their well when
there was no permission.

On a happier note, one class of children, 11 years olds, wrote letters and
did drawings to send to children in England. What I would like is somone who
teaches a class of 11 year olds somewhere in the UK to receive these and get
their children to write back. This won't be a simple matter as there is no
internet and no post office.

The text of the Palestinian children's letter goes:
Dear Friends
My name is...... I live in Tawayel in Palestine. Please write to me about
your life in England. Life here for me is difficult. Tawayel is very
beautiful in the spring. We don't have many things to play with.

The children's names are:
Ayman, Najed, Osama, Yamama, Ala, Mona, Dnuia, Othman, Salma and Jasser.