An Encounter between A.E.I High
School Group & The Greek Orthodox Church Youth Group
On Thursday 12th of November
2009 a meeting between the AEI High School Group & the Greek Orthodox Church
Youth Group took place at the premises of the AEI Youth House located at the
Milk Grotto street in Bethlehem.
The one & half hour meeting was attended
by 50 students from different religious, social, educational& geographical
backgrounds.
The aim of the meeting is to encourage
youths to visit the AEI Youth House and to build friendships within the
framework of our outreach program.
The encounter was co-chaired by Rojer
Salameh the AEI youth Coordinator & Mrs. Samia Juha the coordinator of the
Orthodox Youth Group and some members of the AEI Youth Management Training
Team.
Mr. Fuad Giacaman AEI General Director
welcomed & especially our guests and wished the attendees all the best in
building mutual trust, getting to know one another & hopefully to plan for
future joint activities.
Mr. Carlos Samour presented the Orthodox
Youth Group. He talked about the group's Gospel mission of love, peace and
reconciliation. He also spoke about their social, religious & cultural
activities under the guidance of the Greek Orthodox Bishop of Bethlehem.
Then Rojer Salameh spoke about AEI mission, activities & projects in the
field of youth activation, nonviolence & peace building Christian & Muslim
Living Together, interreligious & intercultural communication.
An R.R.C.A peace spiritually activity
was then introduced by the AEI group members. The quote of this activity
was, To live without hope is to cease to live.
A friendly discussion followed in which
the four steps of the activity were introduced & understood: Read, Reflect,
and Communicate & Act.
The two youth groups went outside the AEI
Youth House into an outdoor introducing activity which was implemented by
The German volunteer Mr. David Clement.
The Guests were then led by members of
the Y.M.T.T for a tour to the sections of the Youth House to see the
different facilities & equipment used by the youth groups in their social
cultural activities during their weekly meetings. Soft & hot drinks were
offered an evaluation period was held in which participants from both sides
expressed their joy, satisfaction & appreciation for this encounter.
Here are some of the remarks &
suggestions.
- It was an enjoyable meeting.
- I learnt more about your activities.
- I noticed some were very shy how can we
overcome shyness.
- The R.R.C.A activity was very new
learning activity.
- The Orthodox Youth Group activities
were totally Christian ones.
- Why not to cook together & share food
so as to create an atmosphere of friendliness
& trust.
- Nice, interesting & very good
beginning.
- Why not to visit the Orthodox Youth
Group?
- The ice breaking game activity was
wonderful.
