| |
NARRATIVE REPORT AEI-OPEN WINDOWS
1/9/2006 – 13/8/2007
BASIC PROJECT DATA
Title of the intervention: Annual report AEI-Open
Windows
Location of the intervention (Country, town):
Bethlehem, Palestine
Agency requesting funding (name, address,
contact person): AEI-Open Windows, contact
persons: Fuad Giacaman (Director General), Toine
van Teeffelen (narrative reporting), Elias Abu
Akleh (finances)
Period covered
by the report: 1/9/2006 – 13/8/2007
SUMMARY OF THE REPORT
The report details the activities and
outcome/impact of the four AEI programs: (1)
youth activation and leadership building, (2)
culture, value and identity, (3) media and
communication, and (4) capacity building. At the
end we provide the main results and their
indicators.
In
general, the activities were implemented as
foreseen. Important new developments have been
the preparation for the School of Communication
and especially the unforeseen opening of a new
AEI peace house opposite the Separation Wall at
Rachel’s Tomb. A highlight was the increasing
interest from various educators and educational
and developmental institutions in sharing AEI’s
work or joining the journeys we offer. Strong
existing and new projects include the Youth
House activities, the project “Living in the
Holy Land, Respecting Differences” (school
students learning about the monotheistic
religions) and cooperation with regard to the
new user-friendly websites set up by or under
the guidance of an Australian living in Berlin
(James Prineas):
www.palestine-family.net,
www.palestine-education.net and also
the new
www.timeforpalestine.net
CONTEXT CHANGES
The Hamas government was unable to function
effectively in the Palestinian Occupied
Territories, and therefore a combined government
of Fateh and Hamas was formed after intense
crisis negotiations that ended in the Mecca
agreement in February 2007. The new government
was however unable to break the international
boycott nor create a harmonious atmosphere on
the ground. It broke up in June 2007 after Hamas
seized Fatah positions in Gaza. The division
between West Bank and Gaza governments confirms
the need to confront the danger of further
fragmentation of Palestinian society at a moment
that it is under increasing pressure because of
the building of the Wall and the continuing
closures of both territories and internal
obstacles to the freedom of movement.
In the Bethlehem area, the strife between the
political factions was felt but rarely broke
down in fighting. The major difficulty which the
Bethlehem area has been facing is the building
of the Wall further to the west and south-west
of the city. The ground structure of the new
parts of the Wall is finished. Villages where
AEI has been working through its outreach
program, including Battir, Artas, Al-Walajeh and
Al-Khader, are expected to be seriously affected
by the new Wall - in terms of loss of
agricultural fields and a shrinking of landscape
views as well as difficulties in city-village
travelling for, among others, school and
university students.
An issue which specifically affected the
AEI-Open Windows’ staff this school year was
Israel’s visa policy. In October 2006, many
foreign passport holders who are married to a
local Palestinian ID holder, including Toine van
Teeffelen, AEI’s director of development, were
threatened not to be allowed to live anymore in
the West Bank. After a lobby from the EU towards
Israel, the visa system for this group of
foreigners seems this year to provide new
openings. Visas of one year have been given to
international staff and volunteers at AEI,
although without multiple entry.
AEI’s School of Communication, located in the
previous premises of the AEI, was opened for
limited computer-related activities. The school
could not yet start its major activity, a
graphic design course, scheduled for the second
semester 2006-7. The reason remained a lack of
clarity about the conditions for receiving
recognition for a course certificate by the PNA
Ministry of Education. The delay was influenced
by the change in Palestinian government from
Fatah to Hamas-dominated, as a result of which
we did not receive clear answers about the
conditions we needed to fulfil in order to
obtain recognition.
CHANGES IN AEI-OPEN WINDOWS
The size and
number of groups of AEI are still growing. From
September 2006 on a new group of 12-14 years
old, primarily of boys and girls studying at
nearby government schools have been coming
weekly to the Youth House. We noticed that they
were roaming the streets during their free time.
This brings the number of AEI groups to seven
and the total attendants/AEI active members to
about 200.
The new School
of Communication, AEI’s previous headquarters,
which hosts AEI’s communication and media
program, has this school year started its
activities, although on an incidental base. With
the planned moving of financial director Elias
Abu Akleh to a new work place at the premises of
the School, a more systematic start is made
possible of the media activities there.
Although not
foreseen in the annual planning, it was decided
at the beginning of 2007 to open later on this
calendar year a new Peace House at Rachel’s
Tomb, and to start activities in preparation for
its opening. This was not an easy decision,
especially because AEI is a middle-sized
organization and managing three work places
(Youth House, School of Communication and Peace
House) is of course not without complications.
Later on in this proposal (under the culture,
value and identity program), we explain the
social and political reasons behind the opening
of the peace house. A major factor is the
attention we wish to raise to the issue of the
Wall in the Bethlehem area and in Palestine in
general. Another reason for opening the house is
that it is planned to create income-generating
activities not only for the AEI women’s group,
but also for the AEI as institute. This will be
done by renting a room in the house for
international volunteers working at AEI.
On an
administrative level, three AEI programs will in
the future have their own location:
-
the
Youth Activation and Leadership program in the
Youth House, where also the general headquarters
are located, with Fuad Giacaman as general
director.
-
the
Media and Communication program in the School of
Communication, at AEI’s previous premises, with
Elias Abu Akleh, the financial director as
manager.
-
The
Culture, Value and Identity program in the
‘Sumud’ Peace House at Rachel’s Tomb, with Toine
van Teeffelen as developmental director and
manager.
This will
improve clarity in the division of work within
the AEI.
WORK OF AEI, 2006-7: PROGRAMS
In the following
sections and tables each of the four programs of
AEI – youth house; culture, value and identity;
communication and media; and capacity building –
is dealt with as for the activities planned,
activities carried out, direct beneficiaries,
indirect beneficiaries, results planned, and
results achieved.
1. YOUTH
ACTIVATION AND LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
Targeting
Palestinian youth in the Bethlehem-Hebron area,
this educational program – hosted by the Youth
House – aims to
a) Activate
youth and building management leadership skills
through in-house workshops and discussions.
b) Encourage
youth to take responsibility and gain experience
in setting up socio-cultural activities in the
Youth House.
c) Transmit
experiences and skills to new groups of youth
leaders outside the Youth House, and to
establish mutually productive exchanges of
experiences.
Table 1: Youth
activation and leadership program
|
Type of
project or activities |
Activities planned |
Activities carried out |
Direct beneficiaries |
Indirect beneficiaries |
|
Youth Management Team |
Youth management training, 100 hours a
year:
Workshops, guest lecturers, case studies
|
- Training hours: 115 (1/8/2006 -
1/8/2007), 42 meetings
- Main trainers: Fuad Giacaman and Anton
Mourra
- Guest lectures and facilitation by
members of Ecumenical Accompaniment
Program for Palestine and Israel (World
Council of Churches)
- 3 hours a week on average (excluding
exam and holiday periods), plus 40 hours
extra spent on facilitating activities
for AEI groups and projects, especially
during the summer school including the
kids’ program.
|
16 youth, 15-30 years.
|
- Members of youth management group are
models for other
AEI groups, 200 persons
- Local visitors to the Youth House, 400
persons from mainly Bethlehem-Hebron
area
- International visitors of Youth House
(175) |
|
Socio-cultural activities |
In-house training and discussion groups, 200 hours a year:
Workshops, guest lectures, cases (kids, school youth,
university youth and postgraduate/young
professionals) group).
Socio-cultural activities at YH, 200
hours a year:
Organization sports, games, dance,
singing and other socio-cultural
activities.
|
Training:
- Kids group: 104 hours, 47 meetings,
including the summer school. Drawing,
various other Arts. Trainer: Gabriela
Baddour, youth management group members,
guest lecturers at summer school.
- School youth group (12-14): 45
meetings, 52 hours. Discussion about how
to approach problems of daily life in
Palestine, English language skills,
Arts. Trainer: Anton Mourra and guest
lecturers at summer school
- School youth group (14-17): 45
meetings, 52 hours. Discussion about how
to approach problems of daily life in
Palestine, intercultural and
inter-religious communication; English
language skills, and Arts. Trainer:
Anton Mourra, guest lecturers at summer
school
- University group: 45 meetings, 52
hours. Discussion about how to approach
problems of daily life in Palestine,
intercultural and inter-religious
communication,. English language skills.
Palestinian history, and Arts at summer
school.Trainers: Fuad Giacaman and Anton
Mourra, and Arts lecturers at summer
school.
- New graduates/young employees: 45
meetings, 52 hours. How to approach
problems of daily life in Palestine.
Intercultural and inter-religious
communication;. English language skills,
and Arts at the summer school. Trainers:
Fuad Giacaman and Anton Mourra.
-
- Guest lectures in the school, university and post
graduate groups given by a Dutch and a
Czech volunteer.
- Groups regularly applied AEI’s method
Read, Reflect, Communicate and Act
(RRCA):
reading and discussing texts from holy
or non-violence books, applying values
in daily life.
TOTAL training hours: 298 hours
- Religious feasts and ceremonies (5
activities, 10 hours)
- Walk and talks (part of the meetings,
almost weekly conducted)
- Regular use of sports facilities at
Youth House (basketball, 150 hours by
spontaneously formed teams).
- Regular use by AEI members of computer
lab, using the Internet.
- Visits by other youth involved in AEI
projects (100 hours).
TOTAL activity hours: about 260 hours
|
AEI groups:
Kids: 40 (5-12 years)
Prep school 21 (12-14)
High school: 40 (14-17 years)
University: 40 (18-24 years)
Postgraduate: 23 (22-30 years)
Young visitors to Youth House who
participate in AEI projects: about 300
(12-18 years)
|
- Some hundreds of people who see
drawings of kids group exposed at Y
House.
- Drawings shown at Paris high schools,
through an annual exchange with the
French group ‘Memory of the Future”
- Some 150 international guests at the
Youth House (delegations, groups) met
members of the different AEI groups
|
|
Outreach |
Outreach, 100 hours a year:
Workshops, sharing events, visits,
non-violent actions, youth advocacy
5 outreach activities per year
|
Together with the management staff, AEI youth management
team contacted the following
organizations for orientation talks:
- Artas Folklore Centre, Artas
- Al-Khader cultural group
- Al-Waladjeh cultural group
- Alrowwad Theatre training and cultural center in Aida
camp
- National Council for Development, Hebron
Hours: 11 visits x 2 hours = 22 hours
Activity hours (drama in Artas, film in Aida camp,
performance St George and the Dragon at
a WCC meeting at Aida camp): 40 hours.
Total: 66 hours
|
AEI youth management team: 16 persons
|
AEI constituency in general: 200 persons |
Table 1: Continuation
|
Type of project or activities |
Results planned
|
Results achieved
|
Explanation/comments
|
|
Youth Management Team |
Annually 16 youth leaders trained from
the Bethlehem-Hebron area
|
16 youth trained
The training created more general
maturity, openness for cross-cultural
contacts, improvement of organizational
and facilitation skills, communicative
skills, English speaking, ability to
represent AEI, and take up responsible
tasks for the Youth House and AEI’s
activities, especially in the summer
school.
|
.We are proud that the youth management
team spent so much time voluntarily in
organizing the summer school, including
the kids’ program.
|
|
Socio-cultural activities |
Annually 500 youth activated through
socio-cultural activities and events in
the Bethlehem-Hebron area.
Three simple, artistic performances
which can be used for visitor programs
|
160 AEI members were regularly activated
through discussions, Arts, choir,
sports, walk and talk, leisure, and
religious celebrations.
In addition, there were 300 other young
visitors to the Youth House, who were
activated in the context of the AEI
projects in which they function.
Instead of three simple drama
performances, one large (half-hour)
drama performance was prepared (about St
George and the Dragon/Wall) and
performed during two community
occasions. Youth group members further
supported a wedding play by the women’s
group for international visitors.
The kids’ drawings were displayed on
the AEI website and in Leicester around
St George’s Day.
|
The socio-cultural activities help to
build community among and between the
groups. Note that AEI spent more hours
on the socio-cultural activities than
foreseen. |
|
Outreach |
Establishment of ongoing relationships
with youth groups in the broader
community in Bethlehem and Hebron. |
Orientation contacts have led to
positive atmosphere for future
relationships. In two-three of the five
cases an activity program has been
rounded off, which supported the
relationship and brought wider
familiarity to it. |
. |
Experiences with
the Youth House: the challenge of leadership
building
The AEI groups
come weekly together at the Youth House under
the guidance of trainers Fuad Giacaman and Anton
Mourra (from May 2007 on also Milad
Vosgueritchian), assisted by the members of the
youth management group and sometimes in the
presence of international volunteers.
a) Kid’s
program. This group (35 kids) is 5-12 years
old and usually divided during sessions into
three age groups. They are guided in Arts
education, playing, singing, drawing and small
pieces of drama. During some occasions the kids’
group went to the Separation Wall near Rachel’s
Tomb and put (artistic) graffiti on it. They
made drawings on paper about their images of the
Wall as well as of their imaginations of the
local Christian-Moslem saint St. George/Al-Khader
(known from the dragon story), esteemed in the
Bethlehem community as a protector. At the
beginning of 2007 we provided to a peace group
of the English city of Leicester children
drawings about St George in Palestine, ahead of
St George’s day in the UK on March 21.
b) The new
prep school group of 12-14 years (21
persons) received lectures and held discussions
in the English language; the group further
conversed about teenager issues, values in
communication (listening, talking, accepting
difference), strengthening personalities, and
building self-confidence. All members
participated in preparing for a drama about St
George and the dragon (the Wall) as part of the
outreach program, to be discussed below, and
were further involved in singing and playing
activities. They were allowed to have monitored
access to the Internet, and learned computer
skills. They developed their communicative
capacity as Palestinians and as a group.
c) The high
school group of 15-18 years old (40 persons)
chose for a similar mixture of subjects. These
included English, inter religious values and
teenage values, building of the personality, and
the preparation of the drama play about St
George and the Dragon. This spiritual-political
drama was performed together with the other
younger AEI school group at the Artas Lettuce
Folklore Festival (13/4/07) as part of the
outreach program, and at a June commemoration of
40 years occupation organized by the Alliance of
Christian organizations in Bethlehem. Members of
the group were further involved in the
performance of a traditional wedding by the
women’s group, in front of international
visitors. This group also discussed how to
present oneself and Palestinian history and
topical issues of the day towards students
abroad. The members prepared themselves for
being sent out during the summer to various
international exchanges and camps in which AEI
participates.
d) The
university and postgraduate/professionals
groups shared almost all subjects in their
weekly meetings, including leadership training
(as part of the youth management group program,
see below), English discussion skills (talking
about politics, social issues), inter-religious
subjects, exchanges about a culture of
peace/peace spirituality, and non-violence as a
strategic option at both the community and
personal levels. The groups actively prepared
and celebrated feasts and occasions.
e) The annual
youth management training was integrated
into the university and postgraduate group
meetings. Various opportunities were provided to
the 16 trainees for implementing their training
skills in a range of activities related to AEI’s
work:
-
the
organization and facilitation of workshops
during the AEI summer school
-
the
participation and facilitation in
international exchanges during the summer
(also as leaders in workshops overseas)
-
hosting and
guiding visitors at the AEI
-
co-planning
and preparation of public events, including
weekly or biweekly cinema shows.
-
the sharing
in media events (such as participation in
Wall drawing set up for TV filming,
especially as a result of the media interest
in Claire Anastas, who is a member of AEI,
and whose house at Rachel’s Tomb is
surrounded by the Wall on three sides)
-
developing
activities for outreach visits
-
preparing
regular AEI group meetings (including the
preparation of a presentation)
-
co-organizing religious and other
celebrations throughout the year.
Dutch MA student
and filmmaker Reinout van Schie worked, as a
volunteer, together with several members of AEI
youth groups on the production of a video about
Palestinian youth’ daily life. This was done
also in contact with Palestinian youth at Al-Rowwad
camp, as part of the outreach activities.
Members of the
various groups participated in six international
exchanges abroad, detailed in the media and
communication program. This is an important
follow-up and test to the various training
sessions at the Youth House.
Outreach
The local
outreach program involved initial exchanges and
brainstorming meetings with the following
organizations:
-
Artas
Folklore Center
-
Cultural
group in Walajeh
-
Alrowwad
Theatre Training Center in Aida camp
-
National
Council for Development in Hebron
-
Cultural
group in Al-Khader
The Al-Khader/St
George drama play was shown in Artas with the
cooperation of youth from the Artas Folklore
Center. This play and the film made together
with van Schie (and with the cooperation of
youth in Aida camp) have been the first fruits
of the outreach program.
Summer School of
Communication: 13 – 23 June, 2007
AEI’s annual
summer school of communication was this time
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
through different kinds of Arts, including
handicrafts, popular Arts and more classical
artistic forms. As in previous summer schools of
AEI, the costs were reduced because of the
coming of volunteers from abroad, Five
volunteers participated, four Dutch and one
German. During 10-hour programs over 9 days, the
following subjects were offered to 80 youth of
over 13 years:
-
Marinus van Nistelrooy taught drawing and
painting during indoor and outdoor workshops,
for both a youth group and a kids group.
-
Paul
van Teeffelen worked with university students
and the employees group in making stone
sculptures.
-
Thea
Hesselink gave wall tapestry sessions for the
kids’ group.
-
Maria
Barten worked with the women's group in the
Peace House near Rachel's Tomb in teaching
flower designing.
-
Florian Haftmann, a German volunteer, gave a
workshop for university youth on German history
and culture.
-
Fuad
Giacaman and Anton Mourra, AEI staff, discussed
non-violent actions and methodologies.
There was also a
journey for the participants to the village of
Taybeh near Ramallah (see under the culture,
value and identity program). At the end of the
school, all participants as well as AEI’s women
and parent's groups came to see an exhibition of
drawings and paintings, wall tapestry panels,
flower designs, and sculpture products.
Parallel to the
regular summer school was an intensive kids’
program. During the period 4th – 28th
June, 2007 AEI appointed eight youth leaders
from the youth management training team to work
with the kids (5 -12 years) to enhance their
skills, knowledge, and values. 50 kids were
registered and distributed into three age
groups, coming daily to the Youth House from
9:00-12:30. The kids’ program offered a rich set
of experiences: sport and fitness, story
telling, music, folklore – dabkah dance,
making face masks, and drama games. There was
also a tour for kids to various historical and
holy sites in Bethlehem area. The Dutch
volunteers Marinus van Nistelrooy and Thea
Hesselink gave workshops on drawing and painting
both indoor and outdoors, and tapestry making.
During the daily implementation every group had
a different schedule. On the final day of the
kids’ program, the kids' parents came and
celebrated with their children who performed
what they learned at the summer school in three
dance shows and a play story, songs, and a
karate show.
Later on in the
summer, five of our teenagers followed a 10 hour
course on civics provided by an
Italian-Palestinian exchange project in
Bethlehem.
2. VALUE,
CULTURE AND IDENTITY PROGRAM
For AEI-Open
Windows, education is about sharing knowledge,
skills and attitudes that express respect for
positive values, in particular the values of
peace and community-building. The value, culture
and identity program aims to develop such values
based upon an understanding of one’s own culture
and identity as well as those of others. The
program is directed towards building a cadre of
women and educators (teachers and parents)
capable to express values of peace and justice
in and out of the ‘Palestinian’ situation. AEI
approaches values in a situated manner, out of a
living historical context, combining the
Palestinian heritage and present-day realities.
Table 2:
Culture, value, and identity program
|
Type of
project or activities |
Activities
planned |
Activities
carried out |
Direct
beneficiaries |
Indirect
beneficiaries |
|
Training and
discussion |
In-house training and discussion groups,
2 training courses 2 x 50 hours = 100
hours a year:
Workshops, guest lectures, case studies,
including family history (women and
parents groups).
Living in the Holy Land: 200 training
hours, at 15 schools
|
AEI women and
parents groups
- AEI women’s
group: 52 meetings, 104 hours. Main
trainer: Fuad Giacaman. Guest talks:
EAPPI (Council of Churches. Subjects:
RRCA, discussion ongoing topics of the
day, communicating Palestine, flower
arranging (summer school)..
- AEI’s parents
group: 8 meetings, 24 hours. Main
trainer: Fuad Giacaman. Guest
talks:international volunteers.
Subjects: RRCA, discussion ongoing
topics of the day, communicating
Palestine.
Living in the
Holy Land: Respecting Difference
- 12 classes
devote at least one school hour a week
to the project, over 6 months: 288 class
hours (45 min)
- 12 classes
minimally receiving 2 x 45 minutes guest
lecture talk about inter-religious
subject (project Living in the Holy
Land) = 24 class hours
|
AEI women and
parents groups
- AEI’s women’s
group: 38 persons
- AEI’s parents
group: 26 couples, 52 persons. The
parents group consists of the married
members of the women’s group, their
husbands, and a number of additional
members.
- 12 schools
from the West Bank/Palestine
(Bethlehem-Ramallah-Hebron districts),
including governmental, UNRWA and
private schools.
Living in the
Holy Land: Respecting Difference
Each school
participates with one class, either a 9th
(about 15 years) or 10th
grader (16 years).
- In total 12 x
30 students = 360 students.
|
AEI women and
parents groups
- The activities
of AEI’s women and parents groups have a
certain influence upon discussions in
the women’s/parents extended families:
38 families x 10 persons = 380 persons
Living in the
Holy Land: Respecting Difference
- The school
communities from the 12 schools learn
about the Living in the Holy Land
project and will be affected by its
spirit and activities: 12 schools x 100
persons = 1200 persons.
|
|
Fieldtrips |
Fieldtrips to
value-related sites, 48 hours a year, 8
fieldtrips, into various parts of
central and southern region of Palestine |
- 2
inter-religious seminars of each two
days in Ramallah, for university and
postgraduate groups (29/30-12-2006,
5/6-4-2007), for 28 and 20 persons
respectively.
-
inter-religious retraite in Beit Sahour
for women’s group, 38 persons
- two fieldtrips
in Jericho for respectively 200 and 180
persons
- two fieldtrips
in the context of the summer school
program, including the kids’ program,
for 50 persons each
Trainers: Fuad
Giacaman, Anton Mourra, and guest
lecturers.
TOTAL hours of
fieldtrips and seminars: 51 hours.
|
- about 400
women and youth, Moslem and Christian,
from different types of schools and
social background in the Bethlehem,
Ramallah and Hebron regions.
- 20 teachers
guiding the students. |
Many hundreds
members of school communities learned
about the project. |
|
Non-violent
training and activities |
- Non-violent training, 50 hours a year:
- 5 non-violent events a year.
|
- 26 hours
special training to train youth about
ongoing political subjects, workshop
AllinPeace project (25 persons and
discussions about non-violence during
the summer school)
- 12 hours
training in peace songs (choir group:12
females).
- 40 hours
participation in non-violent events,
participation in 3-4 marches against the
Separation Wall in Umm Salamonia and
Bil’in, and a public meetings near
Rachel’s Tomb and Aida Camp
|
Members of AEI
groups: 100 persons |
Some hundreds of
students and their families in the
Bethlehem-Hebron-Ramallah regions heard
about the activities. |
|
UN Peace
Event |
UN peace day
event, 4 hours a year:
Organization of
public meeting.
|
Inter-religious dialogue and
demonstration in front of the Bethlehem
checkpoint (19 September), together with
Holy Land Trust and church/mosque
representatives
|
34 AEI youth and
educators, women, over 100 other
participants |
Some thousands
read about the event because it received
prominent coverage on the front page of
the main mass daily Al-Quds. |
|
Christmas
wishes |
Distributing Christmas wishes and
prayers, 20 days a year:
Distribution of
prayers and wishes among groups, schools
and praying houses.
|
Distributing and
reading the wishes and prayers at AEI
group meetings, religious celebrations,
and outings (walk/talk) |
400 persons in
the broader Bethlehem community |
- |
|
R&D
publications |
Research,
development, production and distribution
2 publications, 200 hours a year:
|
Research and
development photo book together with
James Prineas. AEI wrote texts for the
book: 100 hours
|
About 2000
buyers and readers from all over the
world, as soon as book is published.
|
- |
Table 2:
Continuation
|
Type of
project or activities |
Results
planned
|
Results
achieved
|
Explanation/comments
|
|
Training and
discussion |
Annually 150
youth, women and educators trained to be
able to apply concepts of value, culture
and identity
|
AEI women and
parents groups
- 60 members of
AEI’s women and parents group aware of
importance of (Moslem-Christian) values
as applied in Palestinian context
Living in the
Holy Land: Respecting Differencee
| |
