Open Day Against Junk Food

Last week we were so excited to share news about the opening of the playground in Deir al Hatab, a Youth Action Local Leadership Alliance (YALLA) civic engagement initiative. This week, another YALLA project was wrapped up - the Campaign Against Junk Food. The Campaign Against Junk Food started when two young community members – Rola and Deema – wanted to educate children in their village and surrounding cities, about the harmful effects of junk food. YALLA initiatives, like the playground in Deir al Hatab and the Campaign Against Junk Food, are designed to empower youth to build and develop the community. The initiative began with putting up more than 80 posters designed to target school children in Beit Furik and Nablus. Shortly after, the girls began their advocacy campaign and visited schools, teachers and principals to spread their important message to the major decision-makers in the education system. Rola and Deema also distributed informational brochures to hand out to children and parents along their advocacy campaign trail.

To celebrate their amazing work, Rola and Deema held an Open Day for 30 children in their village of Beit Furik. As a part of the day, the children played games, learned about healthy eating, and even designed their own anti-junk food posters. To end the day, all of the children enjoyed delicious fresh juice - no sugar added!

Rola and Deema, you two have truly inspired not only all of us at TYO, but an entire city. The Campaign Against Junk Food's message is spreading rapidly through schools, which is inspiring other students to get involved along the way. Both in Balata and El Ein refugee camps, children are demanding healthier food options in their schools and are interested in starting a campaign of their own to follow in your footsteps!