This project seeks to bring young people of various cultures together to build bridges of understanding, reconciliation, and peace. The long term goal of the project is to prepare youth to make positive contributions to their future and society through the values of understanding, helping, contributing tolerance, and respectful coexistence. These goals are achieved through education, awareness raising, youth empowerment and workcamps.
Hosting Organisations:
International Palestinian Youth League (IPYL)- IPYL aims to empower the Palestinian youth sector through non-formal educational programmes, intercultural training, media literacy workshops and youth leadership activities. Since its inception, IPYL has implemented hundreds of activities, including international voluntary exchanges, cross-cultural study trips, leadership seminars, think tank groups and community meetings. By undertaking these activities, IPYL has developed strong alliances with a wide network of individuals and organisations. IPYL is running this workcamp, for the third time, in partnership with the Alternative Information Center.
Alternative Information Center (AIC) - The Alternative Information Center (AIC) is an internationally oriented, progressive, joint Palestinian-Israeli activist organisation. It is engaged in dissemination of information, political advocacy, grassroots activism and critical analysis of the Palestinian and Israeli societies as well as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The AIC strives to promote full individual and collective social, economic, political and gender equality, freedom and democracy and a rejection of the philosophy (ideology and praxis - weltanschauung) of separation.
Work:
The volunteers will work in different villages in the Bethlehem region, such as Eish Al-Ghurab, Dar Salah and Bustan Qaraqa. Eish Al-Ghurab was an Israeli military base where soldiers were staying. After the Israeli soldiers left the village before a year and a half, the municipality took the place and now it's trying to create amny projects in this place. The volunteers will help the municipality of Bethlehem in achieving the projects they are working for. They started building a kindergarten, a parking, youth houses, gardens, an hospital and so on. So volunteers will work in this area with the municipality in different task, such as painting, farming, cleaning, etc.
The afternoon will be used to give volunteers an inter-cultural learning experience, with a focus on showing the international volunteers Palestinian culture within the context of the occupation and hopes for the future. This will involve visits to refugee camps in Bethlehem, visiting the associations in the city, tours of places of interest, lectures, and most importantly interaction with the local people. The volunteers will be able to visit the AICafe where they can watch documentary films such as "Twice a week", about the situation in Palestine and the Middle East. They’ll also have the opportunity to speak with the Palestinian politicians and authors who will open the space for them to find the answers for all the questions they want to ask. The volunteers will also have the opportunity to visit other cities in the West Bank, eg. Ramallah, Hebron.
Why in Bethlehem:
Bethlehem is considered a central hub of Palestinian cultural and tourism industries. The city has significant value for Christians as it is considered the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth according to the Gospels. Bethlehem is also home to one of the largest Palestinian Christian communities in the Middle East. In addition, Bethlehem has three Palestinian Refugee Camps (Dhisha, Al-Azza and Aaida). The construction of the Israeli apartheid wall has had a severely negative impact on Bethlehem - politically, socially, and economically. The wall runs along the northern side of the town's built-up area, within metres of houses in 'A'ida refugee camp on one side, and Jerusalem on the other. The work camp will be running in the period of Christmas, where Bethlehem is the best place to celebrate it, so the volunteers will have the opportunity to celebrate Christmas with the Palestinians sharing their celebration and solidarity.
Accommodation:
The hosting organisation will rent an apartment for the volunteers where they can stay all together in one place in gender separated rooms. Volunteers will cook their own food, an excellent way of introducing something from your culture. The apartment is located in a village called Beit Sahour "The Shepherds Field".
« The organisation of the camp community was fantastic! The group was great and we bonded quickly, language was always going to be a tricky one, but everyone attempted English and Indonesian so it made the whole experience fun and educational. »
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