All possible facilities shall be granted to
internees to continue their studies or to take up new
subjects. The education of children and young people
shall be ensured; they shall be allowed to attend
schools either within the place of internment or
outside."
Fourth Geneva Convention Art.94
Zajel Youth Exchange of the Public Relations Department
at An-Najah National University is pleased to invite
youths and adults to take part in the
United for Empowerment
summer volunteer camp. This project has been designed to
provide international students and professionals the
opportunity to meet and discuss the Middle East
conflict, share ideas, enhance practical skills, foster
relationships, and give assistance to members of the
Palestinian community.
The international summer camp,
United for Empowerment,
will bring together people from around
the world who are interested in helping
create a better world. We are specifically targeting
people who are working with organizations led by young
people that address humanitarian issues and social
justice. We strongly encourage highly motivated and
serious men and women to apply.
Zajel International Voluntary Camp
The camp will be a challenging two weeks. The
participants will have the chance to discuss relevant
issues in the world and particularly Palestine. All
volunteers will visit historically significant sites,
and create a positive and real impact in our community
through a variety of activities related to Social Youth
Development. Living and working together in Nablus, the
volunteers will gain a better understanding of
themselves, Palestinian social/political questions, the
world around them and the continuing Palestinian
struggle for freedom.
The camp will be a place where people of all races,
ideologies, and nationalities live and work together on
a project organized by a local host for around three
weeks. The volunteers will socialize and work with the
local people.
The international summer camp is run by young people for
young people.
This year the volunteer camp is split into two parts:
Although all volunteers will take part together in the
cultural and entertainment activities in the afternoons
and evenings; the morning activities are split into two
sections: The Workshop Camp and the Children's Camp.
Applicants must select which they wish to apply to. The
differences between the Workshop Camp and Children's
Camp are outlined in this section:
Workshop Camp
This is a new section to the camp. In previous camps
there have been many highly skilled volunteers and they
expressed a desire to share these skills among the other
volunteers. The Workshop Camp will enable this skill
share and empower local volunteers in furthering the
Palestinian cause themselves. It will be located on
campus at the An-Najah University (www.najah.edu)
and around 100 Palestinian students from all faculties
will apply to attend. Here is an outline of the
workshops comprising this section of the camp:
Public Speaking – Being able
to communicate to large groups is paramount to any
social movement. There are limited opportunities for us
to present our case to the world; we must make the most
of them.
Conversation – English
language and conversational etiquette taught by a native
speaker. International solidarity requires effective
communication with non-Arabic speakers. This will
enhance our opportunities for foreign support and
improve the impression that we give of the Palestinian
situation.
Team Building – Very little
can be achieved with even the most gifted and dedicated
people working in isolation pursuing their own goals.
Working in a team is the start point for any social
movement. This workshop will include some theoretical
background on teamwork and consensus decision making,
accompanied by practical exercises. The issue of Team
building will also be incorporated into many of the
other workshops.
Time Management – Workshop on
how to make the most of the time and energy we have.
Good time management improves personal well-being, and
helps us achieve individual and societal aims.
Social Media – In this
technological era the way in which information spreads
is changing. Through social media information can be
more accessible and democratic. We need to harness this
potential to the best of our ability.
Corporate Media – This is the
media through which most people form their opinion of
the Palestine/Israel situation. Therefore,
unfortunately, it is of great importance. This workshop
will include an analysis of commercial media coverage.
Is it something that can be used to our advantage in a
social struggle, and if so, how?
Debating skills – This
workshop will strive to enhance debating ability through
diplomacy skills, confidence, and style of argument. A
key learning method will be role-playing: sustained
role-playing can also improve our insight into other
people's point of view.
We are encouraging international volunteers who have
skills/experience in any of these areas to apply for the
Workshop Camp this summer.
Children's Camp
There are a number of different forms of work in which
volunteers can participate. The Children's camp will be
based in one of the refugee camps in the city of Nablus
and the work will take place at the Askar Development
Centre. The program has been designed to best suit the
needs of the people (children) living in such difficult
conditions; as well as to effectively utilise the
talents we anticipate volunteers will bring from abroad.
The work will be divided into the following sections:
Counselling and Psychological Support:
The Counselling and Psychological Support Program
organizes sessions for both groups and individuals to
provide support and counselling for the refugee
community. The occupation and the frequent military
invasions into the camp have caused tremendous
psychological damage, especially for young children.
United for Empowerment
will assist this program in a number of ways, performing
roles that do not require specialist training. This will
include organizing and supervising educational and
recreational activities for children to help them relax
during their summer vacation from school. It is of
fundamental importance to give the children some time to
act, think, play and feel like children should. Any
recommended activity that might be useful in this regard
is more than welcomed. We hope the international
volunteers will initiate and conduct new methods that
will assist the local volunteers in running this
project.
Providing assistance in counseling and psychological
support is one of the most important aspects of the
Children's Camp and a great deal of attention has been
put into this area. Although volunteers will have a
professional working with them at all times, they must
nevertheless be prepared. This part of the camp promotes
self-confidence and psychological release whereby group
activities and games involving cooperation, music and
drawing are often used to achieve this. International
volunteers often find these activities the most
enjoyable.
Sports:
We encourage some of the more athletic volunteers to
help supervise sporting activities at the camp for
children aged 10 – 12 years old. Normally the children
play games such as football, volleyball and martial
arts. International volunteers will help in organizing
matches and also directly participate. What more
can we say, sport is what kids love and often do best.
Games can vary from football which is very popular, to
rope jumping or even tug-o-war. For this part of the
work camp don't worry about supplies. Just pack up your
gym shoes, cap and hope you'll keep up.
Arts:
A number of workshops have been organized to allow
children to develop their creative talents through art.
The arts program involves teaching kids how to
make art objects out of common items like bottles, rocks
and plastic glasses. Other activities run by volunteers
have included face painting, drawing, and painting on
rocks, sculpture, hand prints and lots more.
The idea behind this project is to let kids have fun and
be creative.
Galleries were organized to encourage the children to
exhibit their work. International volunteers will work
alongside the local volunteers to prepare the galleries
for the end of the work camp. We encourage volunteers to
think ahead of time about activities that would be both
useful and fun for the local youth.
Drama:
The drama workshop has been shown to be an effective
tool for encouraging self-expression and psychological
release in which the supervisors help the children
explore their creativity and interests.
Drama helps build self-confidence and develops
children’s communication to better enable them to
interact with their social environment. It provides them
with a greater feeling of personal security, reveals a
variety of talents and makes them more creative in their
everyday life. International volunteers are encouraged
to share their skills in the production of plays with
local young boys and girls. Bring with you short stories
that could be performed as plays, and that can be
understood by people who have limited English.
Working with the Disabled:
Working with disabled children and organizing activities
for them is a vital programme for those who are in need
of special consideration and treatment. International
volunteers can participate in painting, dancing, playing
instruments and encouraging kids to smile. Any
suggestions for games are welcomed. Due to the special
circumstances of the disabled youth we both encourage
and are in need of volunteers with specialized
experience when it comes to working with the disabled.
Murals:
We will have a special corner dedicated to creating
murals and wall paintings in order to revitalize the
city, which has become dominated by destruction and an
atmosphere of death after seven years of conflict. For
each of the last four years, we have created a new mural
originating from the international volunteers' ideas and
brainstorming. The children often help and come up with
many good ideas that are often added to the
“masterpiece”. The mural brings joy to the kids and
takes their minds off the current situation that
surrounds them. These murals are the result of team work
and two things are certain when it comes to murals: they
never end up the way they were originally intended and
you always end up with a very colorful shirt!
Cultural Activities
The study part of the volunteer camp takes the form of
study tours and other cultural activities. The workshops
are closely related to the interests and needs of the
local youth. There
are lectures on history, religion, gender roles,
refugees, and youth itself, which provide an insight
into different cultures. To create interaction amongst
peers, the workshops include role-play and other similar
activities. International volunteers will visit and take
part in activities with local women's and youth
community associations, cultural clubs and forums.
Traditional Palestinian dance (Dabka) is very popular
amongst the youth, and international volunteers are
given the opportunity of learning it with the children.
We also encourage volunteers to give lessons on other
traditional forms of dance related to their home
countries. Local volunteers will be assisting throughout
the camp by helping bridge the language gap between the
participants.
During the weekends the activities of the volunteer camp
will focus on entertainment like (non-mandatory) local
trips and cultural activities. The group will visit
places of historical interest in the area around the
city of Nablus. The local and international volunteers
will prepare for these activities during the camp.
Entertainment
Daily entertainment activities are important for the
recreation of the volunteers.
These are important because they help the
volunteers to relax and prepare for the following days
work. Also, Palestine is more than just a conflict zone,
and it is important for the volunteers to see the
beautiful and fun sides of Palestinian culture. The
entertainment varies from night to night. It will
include visits to coffee shops, the Turkish bath,
oriental nights, visits to local families, and games.
Your ideas are welcome!!
Goals of Zajel:
1.
International and Local Understanding
- To develop awareness of issues and problems facing the
Palestinian youth, and to enlarge and clarify their
perspective of themselves as active participants in
Palestinian history and culture.
2.
Solidarity – Local Palestinians
are in serious need to be encouraged and cheered up by
the international volunteers who will come and take part
in shaping the present and the promising future.
3.
Cultural Understanding – To
develop individuals with a broader comprehension of the
differences amongst cultures and to empower them to
accept and deal with diverse opinions, customs and
religions.
4.
Social Development – To impact
our local community in its most diverse spheres such as
education, health, and peace promotion.
Details:
Date:
14 th - 28 th June 2010
Fee: 200 Euros
The fee includes:
·
Food & Accommodation
·
Local transportation
·
Administrative cost
Vision
The vision of
United for Empowerment
is firstly to help improve the lives of children in the
Askar refugee camp by organizing and supervising
activities that are both educational and recreational.
This is especially important during the summer months
when they are not in school, and have little to do and
have no other outlets for their time and energy.
Secondly, through international solidarity and skill
sharing, it is to help empower young Palestinians to
create a better reality for themselves. We try to
provide as many positive options as we can in a very
negative situation.
Zajel
Zajel is a youth exchange programme that was established
by An-Najah National University in 2001.
United for Empowerment
is one of Zajel's promising projects and this year will
offer the opportunity for international volunteers to
choose to work with, and provide support for, either
Palestinian students or refugee children. The latter
includes the experience of life in one of the
Palestinian refugee camps, which unfortunately are home
to many people in Palestine.
Zajel Youth Exchange Program (Zajel means "dove") is an
official educational program at the Public Relations
Department of An-Najah National University in Nablus,
Palestine.
An-Najah National University is one of the universities
in Palestine, founded in 1977. Students come from
different regions of Palestine, in search of knowledge
and education. Furthermore, the university focuses on
the active and responsible participation of the students
in community life. All students are strongly encouraged
to perform volunteer work for the university or for the
community.
Zajel Youth Exchange Program offers the opportunity for
local students to participate in the camps and other
international exchanges in order to experience
intercultural dialogue.
We intend to have a gender-balanced camp. One
well-trained local volunteer will take the
responsibility of leading the camp.
Don’t hesitate to contact us for the info sheet
and the application form
Sincerely yours,
Alaa Yousef/ Coordinator
Zajel Youth Exchange Program
Public Relations Department
An-Najah National University
Nablus, Palestine
http://youth.zajel.org
http://youth.zajel.org/summer_camps/workcamps.htm
Email:
youthexchange@najah.edu or
zajel.camp@gmail.com
www.najah.edu
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