Some of the funds raised from the Run Across Palestine will go towards an investment in leadership benefitting farmers communities. The scholarship extends four years of tuition at local Palestinian universities to children of farmers. Selection criteria gives attention to leadership potential, committment to community service, and level of education in the family, and family economic conditions. RAP is working with the Canaan Scholarship Fund to prioritizes qualified students from marginalized rural and refugee communities whose parents did not attend college and disadvantaged students. Scholarship recipients committ to volunteer in community service programs for the four summers during their college years. This program integrates their work with an internship program where they bring international students to work in tandem with Palestinian students to work on farmer projects, thus we create future leaders. Since 2007, we have pledged 10 full scholarships a year.
RIGOROUS SELECTION FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS
The Scholarship Award Committee is composed of representatives of Canaan Fair Trade, the Palestine Fair Trade Association, and faculty members from major Palestinian universities. Previous years’ scholarship recipients are now studying subjects ranging from English Literature to Engineering, with the 2007 award recipients getting ready to graduate and enter careers in their chosen fields.
In 2008, ten full four year scholarships were awarded: 2008 Scholarship winners
Hadeel Soboh, from the village of Berqin, spoke at the 2008 Olive Harvest Festival to the 2000 attendees. On behalf of the 9 women and 1 man awarded scholarships this year, she thanked Canaan for giving Palestine back its life through education. Hadeel is an engineering (architecture) student at An-Najah University.
In 2007, ten full four year scholarships were awarded: 2007 Scholarship winners
‘Abir Yassin the daughter of an olive farmer from our ‘Anin cooperative, spoke at our 2007 Olive Harvest Festival on behalf of all the scholarship recipients. She is attending the Arab American University of Jenin and majoring in English Literature. There were 6 women and 4 men awarded scholarships this year.
