Looking back at the residential on the first weekend...

When the women arrived to the UK, I travelled with several other British participants down to the residential scout camp in Sussex.  The Palestinian women were waiting and gave us the most wonderful and enthusiastic welcome I think I have ever received.  It was a fantastic start to the visit.  We ate a communal meal together and spent some time getting to know each other and meeting our buddies and group members.  Suzan was my buddy and hostee.  The

weekend in Sussex was the perfect opportunity to start our friendship and build trust before moving to London.  Conversations with the women about the stipulations required for some of them to be allowed to travel solo to another country were striking. 

The Saturday was originally intended to be a British day (with the Sunday as Palestinian) but we decided to mix the two for practical reasons of timing and to create a better range of activities.  I think this was an improved situation as it reflected the aim of sharing our cultures.  Within the weekend, we went on a walk in the woods and the Palestinian women were given an opportunity to sample the delightful British weather!  We were instructed in dabke dancing and kickboxing by the Palestinian women with a Tai Chi demonstration in exchange.  A trip into the nearby town helped us to look at the differences between Sussex and Palestine as well as providing a contrast for the main body of the trip in London.  Watching 5 Broken Cameras as a group brought up some interesting remarks: as a documentary portraying the brutality of occupation, one of the Palestinian women commented on how typical such experiences were for her.  I found this to be a very powerful statement. 

 

The Sunday included ‘bring a thing’ where each of the group participants explained what item they had chosen to represent their life.  Many of the Palestinian women chose traditional items closely linked to their nationality.  Then we had the opportunity to see the presentations the Palestinians would be giving the groups they would meet throughout the week – I found it incredible to be hearing these stories of human rights abuses, daily discrimination and injustice directly from new-found friends.  There is a great deal of difference in appreciating the truth of occupation from reading a news article and meeting and talking with someone suffering under it.