Indonesian NGO to Build School in Gaza

Jakarta Globe, November 30, 2012

An Indonesian NGO is securing funds to build a school in the recently

battle-torn Gaza Strip. (AFP Photo)        

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An Indonesian NGO announced on Friday plans to build a school in the Gaza Strip, as construction of the first Indonesian hospital in the conflict-ridden region is reportedly nearing completion.

“We’ve secured a plot of land in Bait Lahiya, North Gaza, [which is] about 5,000 square meters. We will immediately kick off construction,” the director of Aksi Cepat Tanggap, Doddy Cleveland, told Indonesian news portal antaranews.com in Gaza on Friday.

Doddy is in Gaza with several Indonesian lawmakers and representatives of various other Indonesian NGOs, including Dompet Dhuafa and the National Committee for the People of Palestine (KNURP), who brought billions of rupiah in humanitarian aid.

He didn’t elaborate on any details concerning the project.

ACT’s website, actforhumanity.or.id, says that the school’s construction was part of the organization’s Sympathy of Solidarity for Palestine program, which includes medical support and clean water aid.

It will be a primary school, and ACT said it had secured a permission and a pledge of support from Palestine’s Ministry of Education to develop the school.

“The Indonesian school in Gaza will have an environmentally friendly design, which will be easy to rebuild if the school is damaged. Basic materials will be taken from the Gaza Strip area... we will partner with the locals to build the school,” the ACT says.

The hospital is also being built in Bait Lahiya. Its construction was halted earlier this month after Israeli rockets almost hit it several times.

It is not clear yet whether construction has resumed.

Another Indonesian NGO, Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C), initiated the trauma center and rehabilitation hospital. It has collected Rp 21.9 billion ($2.3 million) in donations from Indonesians to support its foundation, out of the estimated total need of Rp 60 billion, according to tempo.co.id.

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