Hello Everyone,
Attached to this post is the recently completed RecrearApply! Workshop Summary! We are very excited to release this file and we can’t believe it’s been a month since we left Palestine after having such a life changing experience. We miss all of you and would appreciate any feedback you have regarding the summary.
Much Love,
Komal
We would really appreciate if all the students who attended the Recrear-Apply! Workshop last week could take a few minutes to complete our feedback form. Please click here to access the form.
Thanks for helping Recrear improve!
– The Recrear-Apply! Team
Komal was interviewed this morning for CBC Radio 1’s Ottawa Morning Show. Click the link below to hear about RecrearApply!
Ottawa Morning with Kathleen Petty
Did the past two weeks actually happen? Two weeks literally felt like two minutes.
I am so proud of my RecrearApply! team for their passion and commitment to our workshops and our project. Gioel, Kevin, Kirsten and Qasim, you have all inspired me to keep going, to push myself and to continue giving to the people around me. We have made a change, we have left a lasting impression on many people at An-Najah… this is incredible.
As I sit at Maya’s house in Tel Aviv reflecting on our time spent together, I can’t help but feel so lucky and so amazed at the potential within each of us and within all the people I’ve met through Recrear, in Berlin and in Nablus. We will continue to commit to implementing change and to commit to projects that will affect people around the world. This is why I love all of you, you make me better and stronger, and for this, I thank you.
– KM
As I write, I am in a state of pure euphoria. The last session of Recrear-Apply! was today and I am SOO proud of all the work that all of us did together. It is 1.00 am and the Recrear-Beta team is working on a final report after an amazing evening.
Giving Mia bel Mia to this projects just feels right!
– GG
We have been emphasizing the importance of extra-curricular activities, especially for gaining practical experience in the field… here is a compilation of our extra-curricular activities this week at RecrearApply! total immersion with the help of some friends.
Film at the Centre Culturel Francais
Visit to Aseera
Dinner at Mr. Mohammad’s house
– KM
What a whirlwind few days! I am sitting in a session on project development right now and my mind is being blown. Yesterday, we challenged the students to create project proposals in groups of 8-10 and to present them in front everyone during today’s session. Some of these students have never presented in front of a large group of people, most have never presented in English.
Wow. They are truly incredible. We have seen presentations for groups aimed to help advise high school students on what degree to choose for university (there are no academic advisors for high school students in Nablus) so they can have a ‘Better Life’. One group proposed creating a centre for only women in the Old City of Nablus – a place where women can mix and mingle together, exercise, spend time and share. Another tried to rally the students to give up one week’s worth of cigarettes and cell phone credit for Palestinian’s situated in refugee camps in Lebanon.
I am beyond excited by their ideas and the potential of these ideas. I hope and encourage the students to make each proposal a reality. Some of the groups are already committed to begin implementation of their projects next semester. My mind can’t even handle imagining the impact these students will have on their communities.
This morning, I sat down with nine students for interviews for the documentary I’m working on of our time here in Nablus – nine brilliant, joyful, driven students who left a huge painful smile on my face. I can’t wait to go home and edit all the footage I’ve been collecting. There are literally five different documentaries that I could make from all the different focuses and stories I’ve documented!
Last night one of the students, Alaa, invited us to his village to have a barbeque. The level of hospitality, acceptance and love I felt with all the people we met from the village and all of Alaa’s friends was incredible. It is hard for me to properly address in words the emotions and happiness I felt while we were singing, dancing and talking around the fire. I was on a high when we arrived back to the apartments.
I want to take a moment now, with one day of workshops left, to thank every individual who we have met from the bottom of my soul. Each of you has left a lasting impression on me; I hope I have done the same.
This was more of a ramble than a coherent blog post… hope you enjoyed!
– KM
For the second time in a week, students at the An-Najah National University were able to see into the lives of other students studying similar programs across the globe via a video conference with students from the University of New Orleans, Louisiana in the south of the United States.
The session is just one of over a dozen that are being implemented over two weeks by Recrear, an international non-governmental organization based in Berlin, Germany that focuses on helping youth around the world.
“We are here to inspire confidence in the youth of the world to carry out their own projects of international development,” said founder and project coordinator Gioel Gioacchino. The two weeks training workshop, ‘Recrear-Apply!’ is geared towards inspiring Palestinian students to improve their English skills and build strong resumes by researching and making connections to other Universities in the world.
“The Recrear staff on the ground here in Palestine is comprised of students just like the ones we are helping at An-Najah. We want to connect the community of An-Najah to our home communities to help share our story and show where we come from. It’s important they see their possibilities are not limited as Palestinians, but instead, that they hold the power to create the future they aspire for,” said Kevin Potter, one of the Recrear organizers.
The video conference lasted almost an hour as the students volleyed questions between the two campuses. Food and culture were hot topics as both sides were eager to describe their favorite dishes such as the Palestinian dish ‘Upside Down’. With the fact the University of New Orleans is home to the top Naval Marine and Naval Architecture Engineering program in the US, the future engineers of An-Najah were very interested in departmental student organizations, student life, and real-world applications that complimented the curriculum in New Orleans.
The UNO students shared their passion and pride for their University programs and also discussed the differences in the two student bodies. “We actually had students from Palestine at our New Student Orientation yesterday,” responded Emily Srofe, an Orientation Leader present in the conference. “We have students from all over the world that come here to study with us.”
The Recrear-Apply! Workshop will end this Sunday with a global village at An-Najah University, all are welcome to attend.
-KP
RecrearApply! 