Did you know that March 20th was the International Day of Happiness?The YES alumni in West Bank did, and they decided to use the holiday to spread joy in a place where many people feel despair - at the cancer ward of the Al-Najah Hospital in Nablus. On March 22nd, 13 Palestinian YES alumni joined together from all over the West Bank with the sole purpose of bringing joy to the hearts of sick children

The alumni prepared a schedule filled with fun activities for the kids. After brief introductions, the kids got straight into playing in a friendly competition that involved tossing balls into buckets. Some alumni were dressed as clowns and entertained the children throughout the activity; they even brought everyone balloons made into various shapes!

Later on, alumni and the kids enjoyed listening to Asil Qraini (YES 2012 - 2013) give a dramatic reading of a children's story. After that, Izzeddin Said (YES 2013 - 2014) began to play on his musical instrument, Al-Qanoun, which attracted a large audience of nurses, visiting family members, and other hospital workers. Everyone joined in and sang together to various Arabic and Palestinian Folk songs.

The West Bank YES alumni network concluded their happy event by donating around 30 English-language children's books to be permanently placed at the hospital classroom. This way a small YES English library will always be available for them to learn in the future. The books were collected during a donation-drive campaign held by YES across the West Bank and Jerusalem earlier this year.

What a wide variety of ways to support happiness for the international celebration!