In 2007 a small Congregational church on Cape Cod called a new minister who came from Old Lyme, where he was introduced to the work of the Tree of Life. He wanted to hold a program on Israel/Palestine and asked for volunteers to help organize it. That was my introduction to Tree of Life, and it afforded me the opportunity to meet some wonderful young people and not only hear about their challenges living under Occupation in the West Bank, but also their hopes and dreams for the future. Since then, I have traveled to Palestine four times and hosted many young Palestinian visitors to the Cape, who shared their experiences, culture, and music at our programs.
Palestinian families have the same aspirations as parents and children in the United States and their Jewish Israeli neighbors. They value education, want to go to college, get jobs to support themselves and contribute to the economic progress of their country. However, the obstacles to pursuing an education have become immense. As the number of checkpoints in the West Bank has increased, travelling from town to town has become very time consuming and fraught with danger from soldiers and violent settlers. Since 2023, students from Gaza have seen their universities destroyed by Israeli bombs, so they have made every effort to continue their studies with West Bank universities.
In 2011 the Tree of Life board made a commitment to provide scholarship aid to Palestinian students studying in Palestine. To do this, we partner with three organizations to whom we send scholarship funds, and they select the recipients on our behalf. The Al Rowwad Cultural Center in the Aida Refugee Camp selects students who live in the Dheisheh, Beit Jebrin, and Aida camps and in the area around Bethlehem. The Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) assists us in providing scholarships for students from Gaza, many of whom are now studying with universities in the West Bank due to the destruction of Gaza’s universities. Lastly, Tree of Life has had a long-standing relationship with the Greek Orthodox Shepherd’s School (K-12) in Beit Sahour, and we provide assistance to the school to aid families of the students. Our scholarship fund generally assists about 30 students a year.
As Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” We hope that through support of our scholarship program you will help Tree of Life create a better world for the youth of Palestine.
Elaine F. Brouillard
Treasurer
Tree of Life Educational Fund
