https://www.youcaring.com/theleapprogram-1157340
Remember your childhood days when you went to summer camp? Remember how much fun you had with your peers and all the exciting activities you participated in? Remember how much you looked forward to reuniting again with your friends and experiencing it all over again? And if you never participated in a summer camp, do you remember how bored you were during the summer days and how much you looked forward to returning to school?
Help us bring the same summer experience to Palestinian refugee youth in the camps of Lebanon. SHINE (Summer Help In English) offers students a productive and safe space during their summer vacation to strengthen their English language proficiency, while simultaneously exploring various recreational skills.
In addition, students go on weekly field trips that nurture and foster students’ mental, physical, and social growth at a pivotal stage in their lives. Some of these activities include yoga, photography, videography, debke (a Palestinian folkloric dance), theater, social media, poetry, creative writing, among many others.
LEAP has been operating its summer project SHINE since 2010.
SHINE is an intensive summer camp in the Palestinian refugee-camps of Lebanon. LEAP recruits volunteers to teach English, as well as lead recreational activities while living and working in the refugee camps. Moreover, students are able to explore new interests, go on fun field-trips, and make lasting friendships with their classmates and teachers. In turn, our volunteers learn about the Palestinian refugee reality in general, but particularly in Lebanon. Volunteers and students share a mutual learning and sharing experience. Upon return to their home communities, volunteers are encouraged to raise awareness about the plight of Palestinian refugees.
Adolescents face a number of social pressures and adult-like responsibilities. SHINE allows them to be children, while also re-inspiring their thirst for knowledge. English is an essential skill because students must take a national exam for promotion to high school, which is administered in English. Unfortunately, more than half of students fail the exam due to lack of proficiency in English. 
Furthermore, many Palestinian refugee youth from Syria, who now reside in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, have a lower proficiency than their grade-level, thus preventing them from enrolling in school due to lack of confidence and self-esteem.
LEAP’s SHINE project aims to remedy these impediments and advance youth through our intensive and fun summer project, which promises to make students feel more confident, happy, and accomplished.
Donate online: https://www.youcaring.com/theleapprogram-1157340
