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ARK
Mission Statement:
The
mission of ARK is the empowerment of these indigenous and marginalized
young people as they share their dreams, raise their voices and ideas,
celebrate their culture and life stories, music and songs, dances and
arts/crafts and together partner to forge a better world designed,
shaped and energized by tolerance, understanding and solidarity.
With
great pleasure and joy 13 Palestinian kids with their three leaders
participated this summer in The ARK Project Partnership
gathering for the 2nd round this year in Minnesota, USA. It
started in St. Paul airport. The meeting of the Guatemalan and
American groups with Palestinians was another genuine moment.
ARK
, the very big family with different cultures , traditions , thoughts
and experiences that gathered from three different places in the
world , America , Guatemala, and Palestine. This family, under the
motto “the time is now “have worked together trying to build a better
and peaceful community, with those 45 young kids from those 3
different places will make this world better one day. Not to forget
the great help of Judy, Kate, Harry...and other key leaders who worked
so hard to have everybody together for this youth gathering.
“As
one of the leaders in the Palestinian group, and since this is my
first experience in leading young people, the first thought I had is
that it is going to be a hard experience; especially dealing with
teenagers, but when we settled down in the university and I saw the
nice friendship among the kids, that gave me a great relief. The kids
are good friends, who love and respect each other. the first too days
for some them was difficult, I could sense a little bit of distance
between the three cultures especially those who didn’t participate in
the latter trip to Guatemala, also the language issue was a problem
sometimes, but with time I could see the big difference, they became
more social with each other, especially with Guatemalans,
communication was through sign language. With time everybody was
participating in the program and giving all the talents and creative
idea they have, whether in singing, dancing, acting, or painting. Even
songs and jokes that used to take place in the bus turned out to be
the culmination of this communication.’ Lara said.
The
above photo displays the ARK II family in front of one of the wall
murals
“It
reminded me of the first moments we met last year in St. Lucas Toliman.
With
a little difference with the absence of the terrific volcano
mountains, most of our kids know most of the other participants. So
these were moments full of hugs and love.” Sami said, one of the
leaders in the Palestinian group.
As
referring to the difficulty in cutting all the distance through to the
US, Kate Peer, a travel director had to do extra work to follow up for
many hours waiting for our late arrival. This incident touched us
deeply for it shows that we are in fact one family and that there are
people who are ready to give themselves for others.
“A
special Chinese dinner was awaiting all of the ARK participants when
we arrived. The Palestinians did their best to use the Chinese
chopsticks; it was the first cultural experience they encountered.”
Sami added.
Moving in to the dorms of the University of Minnesota, with all the
new regulations, magnetic cards and room keys gave impressions to
every single participant; we felt that being in these dorms and using
the university facilities has given us the sense of good organization.
Judy, a key leader for this project, played a major role in
introducing the program and made sure that the spirit of one family
prevailed on the whole gathering, despite our various cultures and
social backgrounds.
In
one of her comments Judy said:
“I
have no favorites. I do not favor the Palestinians; nor do I favor the
Guatemalans and I do not favor the Americans. When we are in the big
family group all are equal and should be treated equally. “It is not
about me; it’s about us,” she said.
The
above comment Judy made to stress upon the equality among all.
In
this sense people realized the relationship between one another is not
only limited to two people or one couple but extends to reach the kids
with their leaders who in many cases can be considered like their
parents or grand parents.
“Peace starts from one house, stretches through the neighborhood,
school and the whole community.” As Shadi, one of the participants
said.
Another indicated that respect for others and others’ opinions was one
of the major attitudes they gained.
From
this point of view the ARK II experience was rich in its diversity
from culture, religion, denomination and gender, age and furthermore
to language and education.
Hence, our goal is to build a better world; the majority of
participants worked hard to build bridges among one another and worked
hard to breakdown the different barriers that separate us. The time is
now to mend our broken world. So we work together, exchange ideas,
conversations, draw the signs of peace and celebrate together in and
different ways the dream of every person and the dream of every nation
to live in peace and enjoying justice.
With
great sincerity and respect, the sacred circle led by a Native
American, Don gave a major impulse for the group, a new dynamic and a
new formation. Through the sacred circle, became a new family whose
members are entitled to respect one another’s own culture and belief.
All those taking part in this sacred circle became more than ever
committed, caring for one another, and doing their best to live a life
of happiness and joy.
Painting on the wall murals was one of
the highlights for this gathering
“Walk the
talk” and “put your self in someone else’s shoes,” are great mottos
but difficult to achieve. The ARK II Minnesota gathering worked in
breaking the barriers that separate one from the other and established
a sense of trust and confidence instead of fear and suspicion.
It’s
not as important to focus on one’s self but rather every single
participant has to become part of overall mixture. It’s this valuable
component that we learned from the various cultures, religions, and
languages; all this made the ARK program a vessel to contain people
who were able to express themselves better by singing, dancing,
drawing, acting etc…sharing the dreams and focusing on the
establishment of a new life based on peace and justice.
The
2 weeks were over very quickly, that people were really crying 2 days
before the farewell party, the scene at the airport was too touchy
that some of the Guatemalan kids were lying on the floor crying hoping
to stay few more days with their friends. Everybody else in the
airport was in tears waving goodbye, hoping to meet again next year
and this time in Palestine.
Despite of the very few misunderstandings which used to take place
and solved immediately, I can tell that most if not all the
participants have definitely learnt something -I have learnt a lot
myself- I am sure they are back to their houses strong people with
different thoughts and personalities, carrying with them a great
experience with which they will help in building a better community
for them and for many young people their age.
Tasting some freedom in one of Minnesota’s lakes
"Peace be
with you and with you be peace”
A song been
chanted frequently during this gathering in Spanish, English, Arabic
and Hebrew Stressing the great desire to build a better world It sends
a personal unforgettable message You are entitled to join the
great ARK family!! |
