مشروع توأمة فعالة التبادل التدريبي الأول كانون أول 2014

بداية مشروعنا كانت في بداية شهر كانون أول من خلال تبادل تدريبي لمجموعة من العاملين في المؤسسات الشبابية الفلسطينية والبريطانية، حيث بدأ التبادل في مدينة نيوكاسل شمال انجلترا بلقاء عام تمكن خلاله الزوار من فلسطين من الحديث لمجموعة محلية من المدينة لتحفيزهم على العمل من أجل نصرة حقوق الإنسان الفلسطيني والبدأ بعلاقات توأمة مع موقع فلسطيني كأسلوب يمكنهم من دعم وإسناد المواطن الفلسطيني الذي يتعرض للإنتهاكات اليومية من قبل الإحتلال. من هذا المنطلق عمل مشروع توأمة فعّالة على تحفيز العديد من المجموعات في مواقع مختلفة على خلق قنوات تواصل جديدة مع فلسطين وتقوية توأمات قائمة وتحفيزها.

لقد مثلت المجموعة المشاركة في هذا التبادل القطاعات الثلاثة التي تعمل معها جمعية الصداقة وهي الشباب (من طلبة المدارس)  والنساء وطلبة الجامعات في البلدين. عمل الطرفين معاً خلال عشر أيام من عمر التبادل في منطقة ليك دسترك في الشمال الانجليزي ومدينة لندن وقد تركز العمل على تعميق الفهم المشترك والتأهيل من أجل قيادة التبادلات الشبابية القادمة في المرحلة الجديدة من حياة مشروع توأمة فعّالة، بما في ذلك التعرف على حياة الشباب في البلدين والصعوبات التي يواجهونها بالإضافة الى التعرف على أهداف المشروع وطرق العمل المستقبلي المشترك بين المجموعات والقطاعات المختلفة في البلدين، والتحضير للنشاطات والفعاليات المنوي عقدها خلال التبادلات الشبابية، وكيفية التقييم والحفاظ على التواصل المستقبلي لكافة القطاعات، هذا بالإضافة للامور العملية التي تضمن سلامة المشاركين وتوفر لهم البيئة السليمة للقاء والعمل معاً.

أخذ هذا التبادل طبيعة تدريبية لذلك لم يكن هناك فعاليات كثيرة تتعلق بالوصول والتحدث مع الجمهور من خلال فعاليات عامة، إلا أننا تمكنا من عقد لقاء في منطقة الليك ديسترك حضرة ناشطون في مجال حقوق الإنسان وداعمين للقضية الفلسطينية بالإضافة الى مؤتمر عام للتوأمة الفعّالة مع فلسطين في لندن الذي شك فرصة مميزة للقاء أعضاء في توأمات أخرى في بريطانيا والتعرف أكثر على الوضع الراهن في فلسطين، فيما طرح المتدربين خلال المؤتمر رؤيتهم للعمل المشترك القادم وما أنجزوه من خطط عمل للمراحل المقبلة من المشروع وفعالياته. 

Preparing for London

A group of community leaders from Abu Dis gathered yesterday to prepare for a CADFA trip to London. Most were very excited and for Husam, 24, it will be his first time leaving Palestine. He said he was ''very excited to see everything and try everything in London''. Volunteer co-ordinator for University Al'Quds was more reserved - saying that ''maybe I will feel much better when we are in Jordan, but now I feel worried because anything could happen. They might turn me away for no reason, it has happened before''.

Whilst the leaders were checking the weight of their bags and posing for pictures, they received the news that the Palestinian cabinet member, Ziad Abu Ein had been killed. The minister was planting trees at a peaceful protest where he was assaulted by a soldier and subsequently died in a hospital in Ramallah.

One of the leaders was a good friend of Abu Ein and was shaken by the news. He recalled talking to Abu Ein just 3 days ago, inviting him to visit his home in Abu Dis. He says ''an hour ago I was very happy, but now, I don't know. Inshallah there will be peace in this region one day.''

President Abassi has called for a 3 day national mourning. Yesterday afternoon everything came to a standstill in Ramallah and crowds gathered where Ziad Abu Ein's body lay. With mixed feelings the group made their way to the border. We later heard that they had safely crossed into Jordan and all was well.

They are flying to London as I write this - we are thinking of them and wish them a wonderful trip!

 

English Classes

After school English classes at Dar Assadaqa with boys from Abu Dis Boys School who are keen to develop their skills.

Life at Dar Assadaqa

Abu Dis boys getting excited and preparing for their presentations before their trip to England!

A drawing in Dar Assadaqa of Dome of the Rock

 After the trip to England: 

'We had a very fun trip and London was my favourite place, it is a beautiful city' Adam

Designing a new sign for Dar Assadaqa in art class :)

Every Saturday we do an art class in the morning for the local children in Abu Dis. Today we got everyone to come up with a design idea for a new sign for Dar Assadaqa. At the moment our sign is quite small and isn't visible from the main street. We want to paint a huge sign which encapsulates what CADFA does in Abu Dis and encourages people who walk past to pop in and get involved. We will pick one of the pictures (or possibly a combination of a few) and start painting the sign next Saturday. Watch this space...
 

Dar Assadaqa Meetings and More!

 Yesterday, Dar Assadaqa was packed with excited folk from the forthcoming student and womens' visits.

Rob working with a student on his presentation

  The people going on the student visit (arriving in London on the 27^th January) discovered more about what they will be doing on their trip to London and were also given time to talk together and with us about the presentations they will do in London at local schools and events. From our conversations with them we believe they really benefited from the day and we also got a chance to see how dedicated they all were at making sure the presentations were great. Some of them have even decided to come back to Dar Assadaqa everyday until their trip just to make sure the presentations are the best they can be and that gives us real optimism that all those who see them are in for a real treat. In general, there was a real buzz within the group as their excitement and expectation for the trip built throughout which was really great to see.

The womens' group having a meeting in the lovely Abu Dis sun

  The women from the womens' visit (arriving in London on 27^th February) were also at Dar Assadaqa to discover more about their trip from both Dr Fadwa and Abed who gave informative talks. Over the next few hours of conversation in the heat of a lovely day on the back patio of Dar Assadaqa the women also got to know each other more and spirits seemed high.

Abed taking a meeting with the student and womens' trips 

  Later the women's and students visits received a joint meeting which was also attended by guests of the local council. Together they discussed their trips and generally got to know each other which was good for everyone.

Students, women and representatives from the local council in a meeting

  It was really great to see Dar Assadaqa full of joy and it gave us a real sense of how important our involvement is to the people it serves in Abu Dis. Next week the schools will start up again so be sure to check out the blogs soon to find out what the new semester will bring!

All the best,

CADFA team

Dar Assadaqa Update!!

Dar Assadaqa has been relatively quiet recently with school exams taking place but it doesn't mean that we haven't been busy though!

Karam enjoying a little ukulele lesson!

We are still giving English lessons most days at Dar Assadaqa and it has been a really fun experience. The lessons have been quite small but the locals who come in have been very enthusiastic and teach us new things everyday about culture and the humanitarian situation here. We usually just end up talking for the whole hour and I think that is the most useful thing that we can do. I really believe that it is great for the people here to practice there English with native speakers so that is a good motivator for me!

We are also in the process of interviewing the Dar Assadaqa staff about CADFA so that should be complete in the next few weeks and should give you guys a deeper insight into the people here which I hope is useful!

Mousa and Rob working hard on the visa applications

We have been very hard at work with the visa applications for the upcoming student and womens' visits to Camden meaning frequent trips to the British consulate in Jerusalem and a lot of phone calls and computer time! It is really important for us to get this right and we are taking it very seriously in order to make sure everyone can visit Camden.

The atmosphere here is good and we are keenly awaiting our new arrival Dan who will be with us in a weeks time. I'm sure he is going to greatly add to the team and come in with more great ideas.

From Dar Assadaqa, I hope you are all well and happy,

The CADFA Team