Tubas

Alongside working in WCLAC's office, we had the chance to visit different women’s centres around the West Bank. 

Meeting the children

Our first Health Ed and English lessons with Tubas Charitable Society was planned on Monday in 2 villages near to Tubas. However, due to the fact that we had to change routes to go to Tubas through Nablus, we were 15 minutes late and we were told by Ikram – the international relations officer at TCS – that it would be too late to catch up with the rest of the group in one of the 2 villages.

The workshop in the other village was cancelled due to the death of two young children who had drowned recently due to improper safety regulations in the area and the whole village was in mourning. This is one example of how the West Bank is lacking in capitals to develop its land and protect its citizens, especially the young and delicate.

Despite the distressingly upsetting news of the events we had to swiftly move on to proceeding with our meeting with the local school head teacher where we have now arranged to start giving English and Health lessons to the pupils and possibly the teachers. The first of this set to proceed on 14 May  for 8^th and 9^th graders. We will also be helping with the opening ceremony next week for the renovated museum/workshop for embroidery, including creating a gallery of before and after photographs, to help promote the accomplishments and the successes made so far by TCS and to reflect this to sponsors.

The TCS have been working on getting funds to renovate some old houses, but the problem wasn’t only in finding sponsors but also arranging agreements from the owners of the house who were displaced by the occupation.

We will also be preparing a plan for creating a website (such as Etsy) to promote and sell the products made by local women and to translate their Facebook newsfeed to create a more profound social media presence. 

The Ottoman architecture in Tubas

After the meetings we got the opportunity to walk around the old city and witnessed the ruins of the Ottoman rule from the architecture. As pleasant as this walk was, it reminded us that you could never really forget about the military presence in the area even while focusing on community development and sustaining growth. Walking back to the main road we could hear the loud thumps from a military training session near by echoing through the mountains surrounding the village. 

Picking up from the last cohort

Our first week has breezed by, but now having fully settled into the environment and to WCLAC we are feeling fully enthusiastic about the following 9 weeks. The residents are all very welcoming, the town centre is lively and vendors are overly animated in trying to draw you to their stalls and shops.

Sunset over Ramallah

It feels like the city itself is surrounded by a bubble of optimism, nothing like what the mainstream "western" media would have you believe. The workers, students and families are all going about their daily lives to provide for themselves and to build a future.

After the first two days of training and meeting the ICVs, we headed to the office. Honestly being inspired to get on board the project is not that difficult as just looking out from the office window and being hit with the lovely landscape can motivate you to feel constructive.

We have spent the last week becoming comfortable with WCLAC as an organisation, learning about its history and the work it has accomplished. WCLAC provides legal and social counselling to Palestinian women who are victims of human rights abuses.

Along with the PFU team we got the opportunity to visit the renowned village of Bil’in last Thursday, which is to the west of Ramallah.

Tear gas cannisters scarring the land

The land itself is filled with magnificent olive trees stretching out as far as can be seen. On a calm Thursday afternoon it looks peaceful and inviting and if it wasn’t for the cluster of empty tear gas canisters hidden in between the grass you wouldn’t suspect the struggle the locals were up against. We were shown around the village and the gates of the Modi’in Illit settlements where construction is continuing to expand. Since 2005, protestors have gathered in Bil’in every Friday to demonstrate against the barriers route.

Yesterday the team had its first brainstorm meeting to lay down the central ideas and hopes we had to accomplish within the next few weeks. One of the main plans we are most keen about is the weekly sessions to focus on women’s rights, feminism across the globe, health and freedom of speech. We are hoping that this will lead to a group of followers that will continue to meet and grow after we are gone. Also, we are working with the ICVs on translation and ad hoc documentation work to fill in gaps in the WCLAC workload.

Along with the ICVs we are working on individual cultural development by teaching one another Arabic and English, and learning about the general community. 

The village of Bil'in