I was an English teacher in Gaza and then a supervisor for Ministry of Education schools, and became the Hands up Project’s voluntary coordinator for Ministry school link ups in 2018. In 2022 I conducted ground breaking research with large classes in Gaza, proving conclusively that intercultural link ups based around the course book have a huge impact on students enjoyment of English classes. I get such a thrill from seeing how even the shyest student who barely knows a word of English can get a huge boost in confidence from simply connecting through Zoom to someone in another country. These days I’m responsible for coordinating, training teachers and developing materials for our “Stories Alive’ project, and everything related to our on the ground work in Gaza.

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I’m a teacher, teacher trainer and author of methodology books for teachers. I started the Hands up Project in early 2015 after running a British Council training course on storytelling for teachers from Gaza. These days I’m responsible for organising everything related to events that happen outside of Palestine; our ‘Moon tell me truth’ poetry events and talks in schools, universities and conferences about our work. I’m also responsible for overseeing all of our publications, as well as developing materials which may be used in sessions. I think my proudest Hands Up Project moment was when I was able to present our first book, ‘Toothbrush’, to the children in Palestine whose plays were included there.

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