Thirty-eight youngsters from Ramle and Lod, including Karim, Ahmed and Hamed from Ramle's unrecognized Train neighborhood, along with their peers from the unrecognized Acco neighborhood of Barbur, met up for a summer camp weekend of fun, cultural and sports activities in the ancient Acco port. Their packed itinerary included a guided tour of the Old City's beautiful and historic sites. This activity, designed to enrich the children's cultural identity and pride, was followed by a moonlit, fireside feast of shwarma and falafel on the city's shores. The following day – just a little sleepy after a night of chatting and exchanging stories – the group arrived in Barbur where they joined the residents – men, women and children, teenagers from Acco's Arab Orthodox Scouts, and SHATIL's Mixed Cities staff in a volunteer Build-a-Playground workday which has become a Mixed Cities project tradition.

Having cleared the area of debris, since municipal garbage collection is not an automatic service for these residents, the volunteers and residents put in place the colorful play equipment, including a slide, see-saw, swings and benches, much to the delight of Barbur's young children and the appreciation of their families. Meanwhile, the same day in Barbur, urban planner Dr Yosef Jabareen presented the plans for the two neighborhoods, on which he has worked over the past eight months with full participation of the residents, to give credence, coherence and strength to their bid for recognition and their rights to normal infrastructure and services. These plans - which include the designated playground area – will be submitted to the respective municipalities and planning authorities. In the meantime, the residents have taken upon themselves the responsibility of putting a playground in place, so that their children, at last, have a safe environment in which to play.