Welcome to the Palestinian House of Friendship (PHF).
We are a non-profit, non-governmental, politically independent humanitarian organization in the West Bank city of Nablus, Palestine.
The Palestinian House of Friendship is dedicated to serving the needs of children, youth, and their families in the West Bank of Palestine. The area PHF serves includes the city of Nablus, nearby villages, and the surrounding refugee camps. The main goal of PHF is to invest in Palestinian individuals while promoting the ideals of democracy, human rights, and love for the other. Our vision is a Palestinian civil society that possess a generation of young people who are educated in the values of democracy and ready to become leaders.
PHF has been engaged in a variety of activities ranging from civic education to programs in democracy and local culture. The activities include workshops, camps, lectures, seminars, concerts and folkloric festivals. PHF is dependent on the generous contributions of individual supporters, as it does not receive any funding from the Palestinian Authority.
Smiling Faces summer camp is PHF’s crowning achievement. The summer camp targets children and youth who are very poor, from families with unemployed parents, families in which parents are separated, and families whose fathers are in Israeli prisons. The camp’s rationale is to give these children a taste of childhood pleasures, protect them from delinquency and give their families a sense of hope.
The camp serves boys and girls, ages 6 to 14, with older youth trained to help staff the camp. Activities include painting, crafts, music, drama, dance, computer training, visiting local academic and civic institutions, and sports. Everything the children do is within the framework of conflict resolution and mediation, assisting the children and youth to build peace and self-respect within themselves and to address their differences productively.