How to spend summer in Jerusalem...

VOLUNTEER!

We are very privileged to have been offered a placement in the ICS programme in East Jerusalem. 

Our team is made up of Tim, Ruth, who are from the UK, and Eman and me, Amineh, from Jerusalem. Each one of us having a different background. This made it a challenge to overcome our differences, however, we were surprised how amazingly we work together.

Of course, that wouldn’t have happened without our amazing team leaders, Khaleel and Sarah, these two are the best “bosses” anyone could ask for!

Our volunteer work

Burj Al Luq Luq, is one of the two organisations we volunteer with, and this is the first time ICS is cooperating with them. When our group first visited the site, we were surprised and shocked. The streets of the old city are known to be very narrow and small, but entering Burj was thrilling, with its big and wide playgrounds, it’s really amazing!

“We aspire to have a positive impact on the economical, cultural and social level for the local community.” This is the main message of “Burj LuqLuq” social centre. 

The main role of our group is to monitor and evaluate different projects done by this organisation, which includes, interviews with participants, distributing questionnaires for evaluation and summarising information to present them to interested parties.

Besides the time we spend there volunteering, Burj have provided us with more amazing opportunities by inviting us on a tour in the old city of Jerusalem. We were introduced to some historical places, after that, we had Iftar, which was wonderful.

The Youth Development Department (YDD) is the second organisation that we are volunteering with. This NGO is aiming to create better opportunities for young people by working alongside youth organisations in Jerusalem. Here, our job is to improve the organisations social media skills, by helping them become more familiar with Facebook, twitter and Wordpress. Our first activity was a social-media workshop conducted at their office. We are now working on editing footages of a YDD-movie focusing on two young people who dropped out of school because of the problems in Jerusalem and were deprived from the chance of gaining higher-level education.

Time is valuable, we make it worthwhile! 

Our volunteering began with the beginning of Ramadan, which is the most peaceful month of the year according to the Muslim calendar. In this month we fast from dawn to sunset. It is currently about 16 hours of full-fasting, which means no food or drink is  allowed for almost two thirds of the day. Yes, this includes water too!

Our non-Muslim team members have experienced fasting for the first time, and as a reward for them, Burj planned for an amazing iftar “dinner” for us at the centre, with traditional Palestinian dishes and sweets, in addition to the very-essential Arabian coffee!

We also attended another iftar with ICS, this one had the whole volunteering group having similar meals, and spending amazing-friendly time together.

We are also planning different field-trips. One of which was to a small Palestinian village which was featured in the film 'Five Broken Cameras'. It was a very touching yet inspiring four-hour hiking trip. In addition, we are also planning on visiting the Palestinian shops and downtowns in both cities of Hebron and Bethlehem, as well as suggestions for more trips to different northern cities such as Akka and Tiberias, and also to various Palestinian villages. And last but not least, we are planning for a visit to the Biblical Zoo of Jerusalem, according to the wish of our team leader, Khaleel!