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AEI university and postgraduate groups in
Jericho
Celebrating
Labor Day
On the 1st of
May 2008, the University and Postgraduate groups
of the Arab Educational Institute went for a
trip to Jericho.
At 7.30 a.m., we all
gathered at the University, where a small bus
was waiting for us. We were 13 persons: 10
students and young graduated people from the AEI,
Milad (the general youth coordinator), Mathias
(a German volunteer) and Anaele (a Belgian
volunteer). The atmosphere in the bus was very
good, the youth were joking all the time,
inventing funny weather broadcast and news. We
could all feel that the participants needed this
day out of Bethlehem, out of their daily life to
relax and have fun.
When we arrived to
Jericho, we went to an area with a swimming pool
and places to relax. We sat down and had
breakfast. A bit later, we did a short workshop
called "breaking the walls". First, Mathias read
a biblical text about Jericho, in the Old
Testament: it explains how the walls surrounding
the old city collapsed. He also gave a comment,
and we had a short discussion about it. Then, we
divided the group in two smaller groups and we
discussed about all the walls we have in our
lives (stereotypes, lack of communication,
greed, etc.). After a while, we stopped the
workshop and decided to enjoy the place.
Some participants
went swimming, other stayed around the tables
and played cards, discussed, shared food.
After a few hours in
this place, we took the bus to go to the center
of Jericho. There, we rented bicycles and went
for a tour around the city. We went to Zachea's
tree, to the elevator which leads to the
Monastery, and to a spring where we could
refresh with cold water (as it is known, in
Jericho, the weather is very hot). We crossed
very beautiful landscapes with flowers,
mountains and banana trees. With the bicycles,
we fell free to go everywhere and we enjoyed our
time.
When we came back
from our tour, we were tired and we decided to
go to the Spanish garden, which is a nice park
with grass, lots of plants, a fountain, etc. We
sat and talked. Mohammed proposed a game with
questions and answers, and some youth played the
cards. After a while, we left the garden and
went back to Bethlehem, tired but happy.
I really believe this
kind of trip is very important for the group
because the youth can have informal talks
together (in the meetings, we have more formal
talks), which helps them to get to know each
other better and which builds a good atmosphere
in the group. This is very important if we want
to work together. It is also important to let
them free to take initiatives (for example, one
person proposes a cards game, another one a
questions-answers game) and this helps them to
develop their leadership skills. This trip
permitted to break the routine, which is very
beneficial for everybody. This trip has added a
lot to the (do) activities which the AEI has
been implementing in its informal youth
education field. Such activities have been also
another way to strengthen Christian and Muslim
Living Together education especially in knowing
one another historical and religious sites. |
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