AEI News

	AEI-Open Windows Activities Summer School of Communication Arts and Sumud 2008 Like last year, AEI’s Annual Summer School of Communication was devoted to the theme of “Arts and Sumud.” Sumud, or steadfastness, is a concept, which has long been employed in Palestinian culture to describe the will of Palestinians to keep up hope, to stay on the land, and to preserve the fabric of community life. The summer school encouraged Palestinian youth (6-30 years) and women to communicate this concept and its values through different kinds of arts and expressions, including handicrafts, popular arts and more classical cultural or artistic forms. During thirteen days, the summer school offered an intensive program of ‘do’ activities in which both youth connected to AEI and groups from outside the AEI participated. The intensive summer school program of AEI-Open Windows offered a rich set of experiences for Palestinian youth and women. Besides information sessions, the workshops provide experiential and training activities, building upon the wishes and activities of the participants, and including the use of various means and media.    Learning about and through Arts make it possible to develop an expressive and open way of communicating one’s identity. Arts give students the chance to develop their own products. Involvement in Arts is also a nice break from the routine of education. It is particularly suitable to bring out feelings and images that show the humanity of Palestinian people and establish new bonds of communication with people abroad.    There were two separate programs for the Summer School of Communication; one for kids (5-13), and another for youths and women. A group of local and foreign volunteers organized the kids' summer school, which lasted for three weeks. They were devoted to create a healthy and enjoyable atmosphere for the kids; there were five volunteers, two of them were foreigners. The AEI General Youth Coordinator supervised the implementation of the summer school for the kids. There were around 50 kids, who were divided into three groups according to age; (5-7), (8-10), (11-13). The kids program was full of diverse activities, such as; story telling, ice-breaking games, Olympic games, singing and drama acting, drawing and painting, sports, cartoon movies, swimming (every Friday), trip to Ramallah (Mekhmas – a recreational center), teaching English for beginners, and visits to different historical and religious sites in Bethlehem area (every Thursday). The activities of the kids' summer school used to take place at the AEI Youth House from 9:30 until 13:30.    Names of the volunteers for the Kids Summer School:   Mr. Milad Vosgueritchian AEI General Youth Coordinator   Mr. Mohammad Sha'lan AEI youth group member   Mrs. Hala Ibrahim Hamilat Al_Tib - Community Service   Miss. Iris Meljes Dutch Volunteer   Miss. Anaele Hermans Belgium Volunteer The other summer school program for youth and women lasted for thirteen days. As its central aim, the summer program aimed at enhancing the skills, attitudes, and knowledge of Palestinian youth and women in learning about and effectively communicating their identity and reality in culturally interesting ways. With this approach in mind, the summer program had the following concrete objectives; First of all, strengthening the knowledge of Palestinians about their own cultural identity, and about the diversity of and interaction between cultural and religious identities in the Holy Land (Palestine/Israel). The summer school aimed also at developing knowledge and artistic skills among young Palestinians to communicate the Palestinian identity to others. Furthermore, it aimed at raising awareness about new attractive and creative methods of learning, and strengthening Moslem-Christian living together in Palestine. The activities used to take place at the AEI Youth House and School of Communication.    # Volunteer's Name Given Course Involved Group Number of Participants   Thea Hesslink Wall Tapestry Drawing and Painting Women Preparatory School students 2 groups of 20 1 group of 23   Dominique Dolbeau French Language Women Preparatory School students 2 groups of 20 1 group of 10   Iris Vink Building Bridges over Cultural Barriers Women University and Post Graduates 2 groups of 20 1 group of 30   David Grant Journalistic Writing University and Post Graduates High School youth group 1 group of 30 1 group of 40   Anton Murra Peace Education Women University and Post Graduates High School youth group 1 group of 30 1 group of 30 1 group of 40   Evi De Jean Choir AEI choir Group 1 group of 20 At the end of the Summer School of Communication, a closing ceremony was organized at the AEI Sumud Peace House near Rachel's Tomb area. The products of the Summer School were exhibited there, Wall tapestry of the women, paintings and drawings of the youths, as well as stories that describe the value of Sumud. Important personalities were invited, like the Mayor of Bethlehem, Dr. Victor Batarsah, Director of Higher Education, Mr. Abdallah Shakarnah, and Director of Bureau of Education, Mr. Mazin Al_Lahham. Artas folklore center group performed a Dabkah Dancing (Palestinian folkloric dance), and Miss Evi De Jean (a Dutch volunteer) sang two songs and directed the AEI choir group with a song called "Zaitoun" (Olive). P.s. For more information about the closing ceremony, please click on the following links: http://www.aeicenter.org/aei/archives/Activities/Arts_SumudFestival9-7-2008.htm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvKUdfROgL0