Letter from Palestine, 13. Nice people.
28th November 2004
Dear friends!
This week I want you to get to know some of my colleagues in Jericho, and some others I spend time with. When I took photos and wrote about how YWCA had changed the lives of women in the organisation some weeks ago, I got the opportunity to know some of the good people I work with a bit better. Here I will present two of those working in YWCA in Jericho, they are both in their thirties, and they have worked in YWCA for four years.
The first one is Shadia. Something of the first she said when I met her, was that I was tall, she is not the first to say that. She is herself quite tall to be Palestinian, so my height was enjoyable for her. She does not speak much English, but can normally express what she means, though the others do not think so, and they say it again. I can then with a smile tell her that I understood, and she is proud about her communication skills. Shadia is one of those who make the days in Jericho fun and enjoyable, and she is one of those who really need the job opportunity YWCA gives her. She lives with her parents and siblings, two of her sisters are divorced and have children, and her income is important for the family budget. Shadia does the accounts for the production of the day, it shows that she is trustworthy.
The other is Majedah. She does not work directly in the food production, but with cleaning, and serving refreshments when there is a meeting in the office. She is the only one in her family of eight who has a regular job. Her brother is a day worker and can therefore not plan his income. So it is Majedah who maintains the family. She is a silent girl, but is encouraged when something happens, and appreciates the solidarity among the employees. She told that if she has any problem or need of any kind, she feels that she can always come to YWCA. That is a vote of confidence for the organization.
There are also other nice people in Jericho, the last week I have talked more with the nieces of my hostess. Their parents build a flat in connection to the house where I live. I found out that Rana, the youngest, has studied at the secretarial training of YWCA in Jerusalem and she has now a job she enjoys, as a secretary for a music school in the Catholic Church. Rim, the oldest, is married and lives in Jerusalem, but she has also been in Jericho some times. While I am still waiting for Arabic classes, which seems to be starting in a couple of weeks, I have found out that this family is good for temporary language training. They have not taught Arabic to foreigners before, and so I am the one to know what I need to learn. Then it is good to know a bit about Semittic languages through Bible Hebrew. When I ask, they are willing to try to find out about there own grammars. With Rim as the teacher, and the whole family as consultants, I managed to find out that verbs in present and past tense have some of the same endings as in Hebrew. Now I need to keep the concentration, not to mix too much. “That is Hebrew,” I was told when I asked if they said “mayim” when they said “may” (water). I have beyond that experienced the Bengali words coming to my mind when I want to say something in Arabic. German is not much in my thoughts, though used once, to get out of Jericho! I am generally happy about the English language which can be used so much.
Other nice people I have met this week, is a couple of Norwegian friends. Tine, who was here with EAPPI a year ago, suddenly came to breakfast at YWCA in Jerusalem last week. She told that also Eivor, who was a volunteer here for eight months three years ago, and who has been central in the planning of Journey for Justice, was going to come. They are here to evaluate YWCA-projects financed by Norad (The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation), and on Friday I had a nice lunch with them and some of the employees in YMCA in Beit Sahour. Then again I experienced the unbelievable humour of these people, with stories from their time in prison together, and all they experienced there.
Back in Jerusalem I got the message that it is the end of the time of receiving sponsors for the Olive Tree Campaign for this season. So here is a Christmas gift idea: The Olive Tree Campaign “Keep Hope Alive”, a cooperation between YWCA of Palestine and East Jerusalem YMCA, aims to plant 50 000 olive trees where Palestinian farmers have got their trees uprooted, or in areas threatened by confiscation. About 2000 trees were planted two years ago, 4000 one year ago, and the aim for this season is 6000. Sponsoring a tree for this season must be done within the first week of December. If you are interested in the campaign, please visit http://www.ej-ymca.org/site/Display-Sub.cfm?SubId=22
Now I have soon been here for three months, and it is time to get out of the country before my tourist visa expires. Tomorrow I am travelling to Jordan, and I plan to stay there a few days before I take courage to try to cross the border again for three new “tourist months”. I must admit that I am a bit nervous about the questioning at Allenby Bridge, but I hope I will pass without too many problems. Thanks for good wishes and prayers, I feel I might need them.
Greetings from Hanne.
Dear friends!
This week I want you to get to know some of my colleagues in Jericho, and some others I spend time with. When I took photos and wrote about how YWCA had changed the lives of women in the organisation some weeks ago, I got the opportunity to know some of the good people I work with a bit better. Here I will present two of those working in YWCA in Jericho, they are both in their thirties, and they have worked in YWCA for four years.
The first one is Shadia. Something of the first she said when I met her, was that I was tall, she is not the first to say that. She is herself quite tall to be Palestinian, so my height was enjoyable for her. She does not speak much English, but can normally express what she means, though the others do not think so, and they say it again. I can then with a smile tell her that I understood, and she is proud about her communication skills. Shadia is one of those who make the days in Jericho fun and enjoyable, and she is one of those who really need the job opportunity YWCA gives her. She lives with her parents and siblings, two of her sisters are divorced and have children, and her income is important for the family budget. Shadia does the accounts for the production of the day, it shows that she is trustworthy.
The other is Majedah. She does not work directly in the food production, but with cleaning, and serving refreshments when there is a meeting in the office. She is the only one in her family of eight who has a regular job. Her brother is a day worker and can therefore not plan his income. So it is Majedah who maintains the family. She is a silent girl, but is encouraged when something happens, and appreciates the solidarity among the employees. She told that if she has any problem or need of any kind, she feels that she can always come to YWCA. That is a vote of confidence for the organization.
There are also other nice people in Jericho, the last week I have talked more with the nieces of my hostess. Their parents build a flat in connection to the house where I live. I found out that Rana, the youngest, has studied at the secretarial training of YWCA in Jerusalem and she has now a job she enjoys, as a secretary for a music school in the Catholic Church. Rim, the oldest, is married and lives in Jerusalem, but she has also been in Jericho some times. While I am still waiting for Arabic classes, which seems to be starting in a couple of weeks, I have found out that this family is good for temporary language training. They have not taught Arabic to foreigners before, and so I am the one to know what I need to learn. Then it is good to know a bit about Semittic languages through Bible Hebrew. When I ask, they are willing to try to find out about there own grammars. With Rim as the teacher, and the whole family as consultants, I managed to find out that verbs in present and past tense have some of the same endings as in Hebrew. Now I need to keep the concentration, not to mix too much. “That is Hebrew,” I was told when I asked if they said “mayim” when they said “may” (water). I have beyond that experienced the Bengali words coming to my mind when I want to say something in Arabic. German is not much in my thoughts, though used once, to get out of Jericho! I am generally happy about the English language which can be used so much.
Other nice people I have met this week, is a couple of Norwegian friends. Tine, who was here with EAPPI a year ago, suddenly came to breakfast at YWCA in Jerusalem last week. She told that also Eivor, who was a volunteer here for eight months three years ago, and who has been central in the planning of Journey for Justice, was going to come. They are here to evaluate YWCA-projects financed by Norad (The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation), and on Friday I had a nice lunch with them and some of the employees in YMCA in Beit Sahour. Then again I experienced the unbelievable humour of these people, with stories from their time in prison together, and all they experienced there.
Back in Jerusalem I got the message that it is the end of the time of receiving sponsors for the Olive Tree Campaign for this season. So here is a Christmas gift idea: The Olive Tree Campaign “Keep Hope Alive”, a cooperation between YWCA of Palestine and East Jerusalem YMCA, aims to plant 50 000 olive trees where Palestinian farmers have got their trees uprooted, or in areas threatened by confiscation. About 2000 trees were planted two years ago, 4000 one year ago, and the aim for this season is 6000. Sponsoring a tree for this season must be done within the first week of December. If you are interested in the campaign, please visit http://www.ej-ymca.org/site/Display-Sub.cfm?SubId=22
Now I have soon been here for three months, and it is time to get out of the country before my tourist visa expires. Tomorrow I am travelling to Jordan, and I plan to stay there a few days before I take courage to try to cross the border again for three new “tourist months”. I must admit that I am a bit nervous about the questioning at Allenby Bridge, but I hope I will pass without too many problems. Thanks for good wishes and prayers, I feel I might need them.
Greetings from Hanne.
posted by Hanne at 2:49 PM
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