Aida camp in Rainbow

It was suggested before I went to the Sabeel conference, that whilst I was there I look for appropriate stories and images to be used in the Methodist Church's magazine for children, called Rainbow.

We met lots of children during the conference, but so many of the contexts were complicated and would have been difficult to explain to readers under 11. In the end, my brief was 100 words and 1 image to fill a gap in September's issue - and I had an afternoon in which to write it!

I chose Aida camp as my theme, getting inspiration from a children's picture book I bought at the Lajee Centre. The story was of a boy who could no longer play in the fields opposite his home because of the wall that had been built in the way. All the illustrations were drawn by children at the centre. I focused on the fact that these were 3rd/4th generation refugees, who, thanks to the wall, had very little space to play and asked for peace so that their situation might improve.

I've just seen the finished article and it looks great! The guys in the childrens team have done really good job, even adding in some Palestinian stats and info. And my photo looks good too - it's one of my favourites from the whole trip. You can view the pdf on the MethodistChildren website.