Projects

Youth Visit to Palestine, July/August 2008

Our main project for 2008 was a Youth Visit from Oxford to Palestine. They returned on 2nd August. The report below is from Tony Richardson. Here is a BBC Oxford interview with Tony and Laila about the trip.

Al Amari Teaching Resources Project

Al Amari Camp was created in 1949 on a 9 hectare plot of land, and an estimated 8,805 people now live there. It is situated between two major Palestinian cities, Ramallah and Al-Bireh, considered to be the richest in the Palestinian territories, and the economic and social disparities between camp residents and city dwellers are stark. Overpopulation places great pressure on the camp, which suffers extreme lack of space and resources. The UNRWA school serves approximately 2,200 pupils. The constrained conditions also mean that children are forced to play in the streets and alleys of the camp, putting their lives in danger. The lack of resources makes it difficult for students in the camp to compete with their peers in Ramallah and Al Bireh, especially in preparing for access to any higher education.

The project has two components:

1. Teaching Room: Educational provision in Al Amari is weak and over-extended, and pupils are desperately in need of extra tuition, especially at secondary level, so that they may be eligible for university. Two English teaching programmes have already been established in the camp for 34 girls at 12th grade. Given the limited facilities, the classes are currently held in the sewing room in the Women's Community Center. With the Women's Center as implementing partner, ORFA seeks funding to establish a new teaching room in the Center which will serve the whole camp. The Center has a large hall on the third floor, part of which could be walled off and used for different school courses, as required. The funds would be held by the Center, and the room would only be used with the Center's authority and approval.

2. Media Resources: During the 2007 visit to Oxford by children from Al Amari, money was raised to support the making of a participatory video by the students, with help from media and IT groups in Oxford. Workshops were held on basic filming and editing techniques, and students took DVD copies of the film back with them. Both students and teachers expressed great interest in developing a small media unit in the Teaching Room, so that young people in the camp and beyond could continue to explore the possibilities offered by digital video. Apart from being a useful and enjoyable training experience, the chance to link people's experience with the world outside is clear in the context of current restrictions on Palestinian lives. Use of the equipment will be supervised, and the project will be in charge of the two teachers who accompany the visits to Oxford, one of whom is chair of the Women's Center.

The outline budget is £4722, made up as follows:

Teaching Room:

Walls (aluminium) 25 sq metres, and decoration	1143
Teacher's desk & 25 student chairs with writing surface	564
white board, lockup cupboard & shelving	200
subtotal		1907

Media Resources:

1 computer, with simple editing software	500
2 video cameras, 2 tripods	1000
Gun Zoom mike, hand-held mike	200
Bags, fire wire, other incidentals	115
Projector	500
Contribution to running costs for first year	500
subtotal		2815

You can make a donation in support of this project to ORFA through PayPal, from your credit/debit card or PayPal account.

Children's Visit, July/August 2007

Project Outline

Final Programme

As in 2005, we brought a group of eight children (4 girls and 4 boys) aged 13-16, with two accompanying adults, from Al Amari refugee camp in Ramallah to Oxford for a fortnight in 2007. The project gave the children the opportunity to broaden their horizons, move without barriers and break their sense of isolation. This visit was both educational and allowed valuable time away from their difficult routine:

• by creating links with schools and youth groups, arranging visits and making contacts that they took back with them;
• through workshops with the Pegasus Youth Theatre Summer Project;
• by giving them practice in English to help them in their future life, this visit also motivated them to carry on developing their English after their return.

Children living in Oxford also gained from this an understanding of life in Ramallah. A further outcome was that the two accompanying adults improved their personal development and skills.

The 2-week visit took place from 20th July to 6th August 2007. Programme for the first week:

• reception with the Lord Mayor of Oxford;
• school and other youth group visits;
• sightseeing in Oxford and London.

The second week was a cultural week in collaboration with the Pegasus Youth Theatre Summer Project:

• meeting local children including refugee children;
• attending workshops (dance, music, drama);
• participating in a performance on Friday August 3.

Here is our detailed report (18Mb).

Mayor of Ramallah's Visit, March 2007

Press Release

Fifteen months ago, Janet Michael won her place as the first woman mayor of a West Bank city, in Palestinian municipal elections that were agreed as free and fair by EU monitors. She is an independent, and a Christian, who won support from Hamas councillors. She said: I am not a politician. They are normal people, and we all want to run the city the best way we can for the benefit of the people.

Janet Michael was given a warm reception by town and gown when she visited Oxford on 8-10th March at the invitation of ORFA. Oxford Town Hall hosted her three times: a reception by the Deputy Mayor, Mary Clarkson; a public meeting as part of International Women's Festival; and a meeting with the Lord Mayor, Jim Campbell. At St Antony's College, Oxford University, Dr Eugene Rogan, head of the Middle East Centre, supported her call for an end to the Israeli occupation, "our main problem", as she put it, so that people in Ramallah and the whole of Palestine would be able to live a normal life. She spoke at Oxfam, and to BBC Oxford TV and radio.

Janet Michael told of Palestinian women coping with traumatised children. Their lives have been made worse in the past year by the economic blockade imposed by the US, Israel and the EU since Hamas was elected to run the Palestinian Authority - a whole people punished for electing the wrong lot. And she described how the Wall, built by Israel, is separating people in Ramallah from their land. They cannot even build a sewage plant on the outskirts of the city as the Israelis, who control the area, will not give permission.

Ms Michael was in the UK for a week, also visiting Birmingham, which has its own twinning initiative, and London for solidarity events, where she met with Prof. Hassassian, Palestinian Delegate to the UK. Her visit to Oxford highlighted the benefits of people here learning at first hand about life under occupation.

Janet Michael (right) with Councillor Caroline van Zyl at a reception in Oxford Town Hall given by Deputy Mayor Mary Clarkson, March 8 2007.

Children's Visit, July 2005

Children from the Al Amari refugee camp visited Oxford from 6th to 20th July 2005, on a 'trip of a lifetime' organised by ORFA. We are grateful to our main sponsors for this project:

• British Shalom Salaam Trust
• Interpal
• National Assembly of Women
• Oxford Palestine Solidarity Campaign
• Oxford Rotary Club (broken link).

Here is a short report by Jenny Stanton of Oxford PSC and ORFA, with photos.

"My eyes hurt from all the green". That was the comment from one child at the end of their first day in Oxford. Those of us in the Oxford Ramallah Friendship Association (ORFA) who had visited Al Amari, one of three refugee camps around Ramallah, could understand completely. The camp is a maze of narrow alleys and dusty pockmarked roads, overshadowed by concrete houses built ever upwards, as the refugees and their descendants are not allowed to built beyond the limits of camps marked out in 1948. This was one reason we had planned this two-week visit: to give a few children a glimpse of another world. There were eight children, four boys and four girls, in the group, mostly aged fourteen or fifteen; and two adult leaders, Ramadan and Refa. We had planned the visit over a period of more than a year, with several visits (self-financed) by members of ORFA to Ramallah to discuss details and help arrange visas, plus much fundraising and planning of the programme at this end. As ORFA has been going for three years, there are active people at the Ramallah end too, who helped particularly with the selection of the children. We were often asked about this. Criteria were: that the children had not been abroad before (bar one who had been to Jordan to visit relatives); they could speak some English; they came from the poorer families in Al Amari; and they had enough confidence to relate well to people they met here, and act - as Ramadan said - as young ambassadors for Palestine.

Jeremy Corbyn MP meets the kids from Al Amari at the House of Commons

Accommodation was obviously a big issue as we had a tight budget. Our aim was to place two children with each of four families, preferably with teenage kids. However, the girls' mothers stipulated that their daughters must be accompanied by Refa all the time and must stay with her at night, which caused changes in our plans. Special thanks to Paul who vacated his bedsit for a week, and Niki who took all five into her house the second week. Thanks too to the other Niki and Tim and their families who put up two boys each. Dave found a soulmate in Ramadan who liked walking everywhere, smoking and talking about philosophy late into the night.

Al Amari children and Oxford friends at Cotswold Wildlife Park

The ORFA treasurer, Delphine, worked wonders with securing discounts, and she, Lana and Miriam organised an amazing programme, with input from many supporters. Tony had asked the children, while interviewing them beforehand, what they most wanted to do and they had said: 'See the countryside, and Big Ben.' So they had a weekend in the Cotswolds at Luke and Jean's big house, a trip to the wildlife park at Burford, and a night camping at a farm. In Oxford itself, we took them around colleges; to meet a sixth-form politics group; to a Woodcraft Folk barbeque; and to Brookes University where they excelled on the climbing wall! The City Council gave us free entry to the ice rink and swimming pool, and the Lord Mayor hosted a reception. There was a lunchtime meeting with Oxfam workers, a tour of the BMW factory, and wonderful feasts hosted by a Lebanese restaurant and by local people in their homes.

At Jean and Luke's house in the Cotswolds

For the two days in London, Shama, a London teacher, organised two school visits, a turn on the Millennium Wheel, an Aquatic Boat Tour, a picnic in Regents Park with prayers at the Central Mosque for those who wished, and a visit to the Science Museum. The group visited the House of Commons and met with Jeremy Corbyn on the same day that many of us from PSC were there for the lobby about Israel's WMD.

Picnic at the farm

The children also went to Brighton, thanks to Tariq who took care of them there. It was their first time of seeing the sea. For each event, two or more ORFA members accompanied the group, as well as Ramadan and Refa, who really needed a holiday at the end. The whole process was exhausting, exhilarating and rewarding - and that's just speaking for those of us at this end. We felt that many people who would not usually be drawn into Palestine support work were attracted by the children's visit, and that it generated enormous goodwill on both sides.

Punting

ORFA is separate from Oxford PSC though membership overlaps, and serves a complementary function. Those in PSC who doubted the effectiveness of all the effort put into this trip were won over when they saw it in action. The City Council, while not officially involved in ORFA, proved supportive. We also gained local press, TV and radio coverage, and reached many people throughout Oxfordshire who had never previously heard of us. Young people in particular joined in helping with activities and enjoyed meeting the children. As for the three Muhammeds, Hussan, two Do'as, Sara and Nasreen, we think they will remember this trip for the rest of their lives.

Al Amari children in discussion with sixth formers at Cherwell School

Will we do it again? Certainly, though perhaps not in such an intensive way. We recommend having children this age, who can communicate - though without Ramadan's excellent English, things would have been much harder - and chosen for outward-going personalities as well as coming from families in need.

N.B. The group from Al Amari met up with children from Dheisha camp, Bethlehem (who were visiting Cheltenham) twice: at Burford Wildlife Park, and at the House of Commons. It would have been very difficult for them to meet up in the West Bank.