Petra Nemcova and Badr Jafar visit the TYO Center
On Wednesday, October 14, 2009, supermodel Petra Nemcova and Young CEO of the Year (2009) Badr Jafar visited the TYO Center in Nablus with TYO founder H
ani Masri. As the guests arrived, Haitham’s boys’ sports class was playing Parachute games in our outdoor space. Psychosocial Specialist Suhad and Petra shared a moment observing the boys and talking about how working together to move the parachute creates a sense of community and security in the children.
Petra toured the TYO Center with several team members. She expressed her support for our work. She was particularly charmed by our holistic integrated approach to early childhood education. A strong proponent of the approach, she highlighted the importance of integrated education.
Petra was a very gracious guest stopping on several occasions and kneeling down to speak with our eager participants much to their delight. In our art classroom, she gave TYO a several sets of Gel Gems for the art classroom’s windows.
In our health classroom, the girls served Petra and Badr a classic (make believe) Palestinian meal of rice, juice and salads made from recycled and found materials. They were both delighted by the emphasis TYO puts on using recycled materials in its classrooms.
Opportunities to rub elbows and share best practices with other dedicated colleagues – especially ones as famous as Petra! – do not happen as often as we would like in Nablus. We are inspired by the work Petra has done with her Healthy Heart Fund and grateful for her recognition and support of our work.