My time in Gaza

Last Thursday the CADFA open meeting took place. The program included questions and talks about recent projects and a presentation  about my time in Khan Younis (Gaza). In addition Emilio and I organised some refreshments such as falafel and humus, because everyone loves them.

I visited my family in Gaza 3 times, in 2000,2005 and the last time in 2012. Of course, the 6 weeks in summer 2012 are the most memorable for me. 

Its true people are suffering from the blockade and the economic situation, especially unemployment is a big problem. Also space is constricted. Its nearly impossible to buy land and to build your own family house. So its hard for young people to move on and prepare for the future. But on the other hand I had such a lovely time.Of course this time is shaped by my family, all my cousins, aunts and uncles. They are the best. Families are much closer in Palestine compared to Germany. But this is not the only thing. I did lots of nice and fun activities, like going to the beach, market or ice cream shop. One day I went with my cousin to a leisure park. My cousin worked there. Another special day was, when I spent a day in Al-Alqsa University.

An alley between the houses. This is very common in Gaza, because of the lack of space.

The beach, my favourite place in Khan Younis. It's so clean and beautiful. 

Dunja x

Report about the last Leaders Visit

For me the best thing of the last leaders' visit was to meet these wonderful people. Just in 10 days I got to know them really well. We had a lot of fun together. From Friday to Tuesday we spent time together in a big house in the Lake District. Everyone loved nature. After breakfast we had workshops for example about differences in Palestine and Britain, security and health care. Everyday we went out and hiked for a few hours. I really loved it, especially if it was rainy.

We arrived Tuesday evening in London. I was one of the youth leaders. I prepared a programe for the youth leaders group. Thursday, the second day in London, we visited LSU School, Samuel Lithgow Youth Club and finally we met some youth, who were part of the last youth visit.  The goal was to get as many ideas as possible and to start plan the next youth visit in June. We agreed that the LSU school and Samuel Lithgow Youth Club would arrange some events with CADFA during the next visit. I think it was very important that we met each other to see what kind of different opportunities we have in the different locations.  With the last participants we discussed what they liked and what kind of improvements are necessary for the next time.

Friday we started to plan and to discuss the next  youth visit, which will be about drama. We had the idea that we wanted to choose the participants  in Palestine and UK  as fast as possible and start to prepare them. We want to set up regular meetings,  discuss  the topics - Palestine, intercultural exchange and Human Rights, and start to prepare a drama show about these topics.

During the visit we plan to have a  drama workshop at the residential for a few days. We want to put the Palestinian and British shows together to create one. With this show we want to go to London and show it for example in the LSU School or Samuel Lithgow Youth Centre. With this show we can also do fundraising for CADFA.

I loved this visit because I made friends for life. I learned about a lot of different topics with them, developed my skills and we created together a lot of plans for the next visits. I really wish to visit them one day in Palestine. 

Dunja 

P.S.: Miss you all !!!!

North London Muslim Community Centre

Samual Lithgow Youth Center

Meeting with old participants in British Library

Twinning in Action Conference

Last Day, Goodbye!
On the Way to the Airport.

Busy Saturday

Hi CADFA Friends,

Last Saturday was a very busy day. At first we went to a church to have a stall at their Christmas market. To be honest there were not so many people, but the people who were there visited our stall and showed interest. I enjoyed the nice and calm atmosphere.

This was just the first part of our Saturday. The second part was an activity at a busy place near Mornigtan Cresent tube station. We put up our wall, gave out some leaflets and wanted to get signatures for our petition. Our goal was to get as many signatures as possible. Sometimes it was really nice to talk with people, because they showed you their interest. This motivated me. But there are also people who are dismissive. They give you the feeling that you are doing something bad, but its important to know that most of these people are just interested in their own lives. All in all it was so cold outside, that at the end we were really happy to finish, but it was really worth it, because we got a lot of signatures, told  a lot of people about CADFA and had some really nice chats.

Dunja 

Time runs

Hi everyone,


Time goes so quickly. Now I am here for more than a month and I am really getting used to it. I have learned so much about CADFA and how their links work, have met a lot of interesting people and slowly I  am getting  to know about this huge city.

On Thursday we had the UN Children's Day celebration. There was a talk from Sir Vincent Fean about his time as a Consul General in Jerusalem. For me it was very interesting, because he opened a new view for me and gave me an idea of what his position was about. Coincidentally, the 20th November is his birthday like mine. Nandita was so nice to get a cake for us and everyone sang Happy Birthday. I was touched.

Dunja  

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Hi CADFA friends!

25 years ago, 20 of November 1989 governments worlwide promised all children the same rights  in UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The convention everybody knows with the name CRC and change the understanding of childen's rights, because they start to be seen legally as members of society .

These rights describe what a child needs to survive, grow, and live up to their potential in the world. They apply equally to every child, no matter who they are or where they come from. The Convention of the Rights of the Child is the most complete statement of children’s rights ever produced and is the most widely-ratified international human rights treaty in history. UK signed it in 1990, and it came into UK law in 1992.

Article 6.
1. States Parties recognize that every child has the ineherent right to life.
2. States Parties shall ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child.

CADFA wants celebrate this important day with a big event, because we think the CRC is an internacional document to fight for the rights of the child and protect them around the world.

Emilio Sanchez.

 

Exhibition Saturday

Last Saturday, 15th November 2014, the EVS Volunteers in London went to demonstrate in front of the  Prime Minister's office at 10 Downing Street (Westminster)
In this famous street there were different groups supporting Palestine, demonstrating about the situation there.

Emilio and Dunja, tried to get  signatures  for a  CADFA petition and talked with people about our charity and our next event on 20th November (UN Children's Day) Some of them were members and had met CADFA before, because they are involved in different organisations or movements in London to support Palestine.

Now, you can see a photo report which they made about this day.

  

Learning fast with CADFA

Hello Cadfa friends!

The time is going so fast. I can remember when I started in October! and now I can go to the universities, schools, community centres and I am not lost on the way. I think Cadfa offers the opportunity to meet other projects, charities or social organisations here in London and I am so lucky to have the opportunity to get to know about them.

When we were at SOAS I felt really well. We are creating links with them because we want to make some activities in the university when the Palestinian people are here, work on blogs, etc. We also want to involve new people from the universities to do projects and activities with us to promote Human Rights in London.
On the next day, I was at Maria Fidelis School and it was really cool, because we started a new 'Lunch Club' with some people who are studying there. They are really interested in doing activities about the situation in Palestine and being involved in our school's exchange in the future. I think I will have a really good time with them during this year.
On Friday, I visited the Calthorpe Project with Dunja my co-worker and it was really nice to see the work which they are doing at the community centre. They have a garden project  and they plant and eat these plants! It was really interesting! I could taste a flower called 'nasturtium'  and also I was really surprised when I met the girls who are involved in the project because a lot of them were speaking in Spainsh and it was like  being at home.

Thinking about all these things that I did just in a month, I am really happy about my time here, because I think I will learn a lot of things, I will meet a lot of people and I will have more skills to be involve in a beautiful London life.

Emilio Sanchez.