LWF Field Opening

PS4l participated at the multi-purpose sports field opening on April 21st 2016 at the LWF Vocational Training Center (VTC) in East Jerusalem. The field was renovated with the cooperation of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), German Development Cooperation (GIZ) and PS4L. It was chosen for renovation to offer the youth of East Jerusalem a safe place where they can get together, be active and learn about their career options with sports as a tool.

It was officially inaugurated by Ms Sabine Brickenkamp, Deputy Head of Development Cooperation at the Representative Office of the Federal Republic of Germany in Ramallah and Rev. Mark Brown, Representative of the LWF in Jerusalem. Among the attendants were LWF students, parents, coaches and community representatives. A hundred children from East Jerusalem, both LWF students and youth from neighboring communities, took part in the opening ceremony by participating in sports for development activities to learn more about life skills and vocational education.

The youth were divided in six groups for six different activity stations and supervised by the staff trained by PS4L. Through specific activities the youth learnt how to use sports to enhance their life skills and social competences. The participants also took a tour of VTC in order to learn more about demands of labour market, their vocational educational options and career opportunities.

Both Ms Brickenkamps and Rev. Brown thanked the donors and emphasized the importance of cooperation of all the stakeholders and of empowering Palestinian youth by increasing job opportunities as a result of vocational training.

GIZ stressed that organizing sports activities for youth in Palestine is crucial in order to raise attractiveness of vocational training for youth. Their “Sports for Development” programme uses sports for the sake of capacity building, teaching life skills, promoting guidance and outlining career options for marginalized youth.