Palestinian youth speak out

When it comes to aid for the youth of Gaza, training programs abound. Training in leadership, training in democracy building, training in conflict resolution. But ask youths what they most want and need, and they will tell you “a job.” (That, and the ability to travel.) 

Unemployment is nearly 60 percent among Gazan youth, and all the training in the world won't help if they have no hope of earning a living. That’s why we want your help to take We Are Not Numbers to the next level. We want to start our own news agency and hire some of our best writers. But to do that, we need your help.

What is 'We Are Not Numbers'?

In 2015, with the help of donors like you, We Are NotNumbers launched. We pair developing English writers in Gaza with authors and journalists around the world, who help them tell the human stories behind the numbers in the news. In just two years, we have screened, recruited and mentored more than 90 writers and published nearly 350 stories, many of which have been republished on other websites and even translated into languages ranging from Italian to Serbian. Among our other accomplishments:

• Palestinian writers from the West Bank, Lebanon and Turkey have joined us. 
• Videos are increasingly being added to the mix.
• We have completed our first class project with a U.S. university.
• We're collaborating with Black Lives Matter on a joint project to come.
• And a book is in the works!

But now it’s time to show the youth (and their families) that writing can benefit them in practical ways. Let's face it, when you're struggling to put food on the table, jobs are what count. We want to reward the best of our crew with actual jobs, while giving the rest a concrete benefit to which they can aspire.

Introducing the WANN News Agency

Journalism is a profession that is valuable to learn for so many reasons.

1. It teaches discipline. There is nothing like strict deadlines to prepare for all other jobs in the future.
2. It demands critical thinking. Interviewing for multiple points of view and conducting rigorous fact-checking requires questioning of your own mental biases.
3. It provides external exposure. Our plan is to form partnerships with a variety of media that will publish pieces our mentors will assure are professionally edited, giving our writers a portfolio that will help them earn scholarships and other jobs. After a year stint, our “paid crew” will be ready to move on to other opportunities, allowing new writers the same opportunity.

Is a news agency really needed?

Youth are the majority of Gaza, and yet we are pretty much left out of the dialogue by both internal and international media. We want to start to change that. What better way than to regularly and proactively seek and offer the youth point of view?

We'll still offer our first-person narratives on our We Are Not Numbers website, but now we want to start offering news to receptive outlets. 

So what do we need to get this going?

First, we need to raise money to keep our baseline program going – which means funds for our two paid staffers in Gaza, the videographer who helps us produce the videos we hope you’ll agree really add a lot to our offerings, the programmer who works on our website and monthly team activities. Then, we need enough resources to pay our first paid crew of reporters---at least three, and maybe more, depending on how much we raise. 

Our $20,000 goal will carry us through six months, which we hope to leverage with grants. Every dollar helps.

This is our vision: Gaza’s own English-language news agency, staffed with youth “telling it like it is.” Help us make it happen!

Special gifts for special donors

If you donate $200 or more, you may choose one of the original designs below created by a Gaza artist for your T-shirt:

If you donate $1,000 or more, you may submit a photo of you or a friend, and artist Belal Khaled will create a unique digital portrait just for you. A sample is below: