Celebrating 4th of July in Salfit

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On the morning of Tuesday, July 5th, the high-pitched voices of 50 third graders could be heard humming “This land is your land, this land is my land, from California, to the New York Islands…” Had Boy Scouts invaded the TYO Center? Had a Midwest homeroom class been transported to the TYO Center? Neither! A Palestinian classroom had magically transformed into a celebration, all with the help of some games, a little paint, and delicious burgers. Many smiles ensued.

Normally, on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, the interns pile into Munir’s car for the windy trek over to Salfit, a nearby Palestinian village, for some extracurricular English classes at their local American Corners library. American Corners is a worldwide program run through the U.S. State Department. In Palestine, its sites aim to share American history and culture while also encouraging intercultural dialogue through literacy. So in that spirit, we celebrated the 4th of July with our Salfit students. Armed with flag coloring sheets, patriotic paint colors, and Independence-themed Bingo, we led various lessons on the most important values we share with our Palestinian brethren. Concepts like “family,” “nation,”  and “pride” are ideas that translate well in any language, and our students were excited to share with us their own holidays, traditions, and pride in their country. Through this special celebration, TYO hopefully imparted some of the best values we all honor on Independence Day. And, of course, what would the 4th of July be without hot dogs, hamburgers and ice cream?

Happy (belated) Independence Day from all of us at TYO!

- Alex

Alex is a summer intern at TYO Nablus.

First Summer Workshop for TYO-MEPI Literacy Collaboration

On Saturday, May 14, 2011 Tomorrow’s Youth Organization completed the first summer workshop of the TYO-MEPI literacy collaboration. This session focused on training this summer’s old and new volunteers on how to use Scholastic’s My Arabic library to encourage reading and improve literacy in Nablus’ children.  For more information on this collaboration, read: TYO launches a new literacy project in partnership with MEPI.

Photo of the Day: MEPI Director Visits the TYO Center

Karen Volker, director of the Middle East Partnership Institute (MEPI), and David Martinez and Rasha Khatib, of the US Consulate General in Jerusalem, visited the TYO Center on Saturday, February 26, 2011. Their visit followed the completion of training workshops for our literacy collaboration: Enriching our Community: Learning to Serve, Serving to Read.

TYO launches a new literacy project in partnership with MEPI

Political strife and restricted movement have led to poverty, isolation and trauma in Nablus, particularly for the city’s 50,000 refugees and the 60% of residents under 25. The youngest segment of the population is most affected by this lasting reality. Attending schools that are understaffed and overenrolled, many refugee children in Nablus have slipped through the cracks. Today few of these children are able to read and write, resulting in increased drop-out levels and bleak outlook for the next generation’s productivity and life satisfaction. Gone unaddressed this problem will have lasting social, political and economic ramifications; Tomorrow’s Youth Organization (TYO) in partnership with the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) is proud to launch a new literacy project which seeks to close this gap now. Declining literacy is among the greatest problems facing the Nablus community.

In late September 2010, the MEPI Local Grants Program at the United States Consulate General in Jerusalem awarded TYO a grant for its “Enriching our Community: Learning to Serve, Serving to Read” program. This program will use Scholastic’s My Arabic Library to teach nearly 400 children in Nablus how to read.

The project will engage thirty university students, ten mothers and several TYO staff members in a workshop series that will promote values of volunteerism and civic engagement. Through these workshops, youth and women will receive the necessary training to teach children (ages 6-8) how to read. Following the workshop series, these trained volunteers are committed to serving in TYO’s Core Program, infusing literacy-enhancing activities into TYO’s art, sports, health and technology classes for 160 at-risk refugee children.

After the spring session, these experienced volunteers will spend the early summer training with an additional fifteen volunteers for TYO’s summer program, during which they will teach 220 at-risk children (ages 6 -12) how to read.

The outcome of the TYO-MEPI collaboration will be a fully trained and committed volunteer corps and almost 400 children in Nablus’ refugee camps and other marginalized areas who can read!

American small business expert Steven Strauss speaks to FWEN participants

On Sunday, September 19, 2010, American small business expert Steven Strauss led a business workshop at Tomorrow’s Youth Organization (TYO) in Nablus. Mr. Strauss addressed an audience of twenty-five, including the participants in TYO’s Fostering Women Entrepreneurs (FWEN) project and invited guests from Nablus’ business community. Mr. Strauss discussed entrepreneurship strategies and recommendations that resonated with the entire audience from the young female entrepreneurs just starting out to the veteran business owners looking to break into the international arena.

Exhibiting a sound understanding of the local Palestinian context and its challenges, Mr. Strauss focused on the importance of marketing, the web and social media to drive investment and business through captivating local and international supporters and clients.

“Having a small business is a lot like being alone in a dark room: You know you are there, but no one else does,” said Mr. Strauss who went on to explain how a strong marketing campaign turns on the proverbial lights. Mr. Strauss is a world-renowned expert on small business as well as a lawyer, an author and a senior business writer for USA Today’s Ask an Expert column.

“His workshop was inspiring and encouraging,” said Saher, 27, an aspiring graphic designer and FWEN participant. “We are ready to start real businesses. We have so many of the ideas and skills he mentioned like logos and marketing. Now, we know we are on the right track.”

Mr. Strauss’ two-day program in Jerusalem and the West Bank was sponsored by the US Consulate General in Jerusalem and is one of many professional development and exchange programs that encourage mutual understanding between Americans and Palestinians.  “It is a new thing to meet an American expert. They are different than experts here. It is nice to learn from them because they present a different way of thinking and a different vision,” said Aya, 22, an aspiring goat farmer and FWEN participant. “It was a great opportunity to meet him.”

In the final hour of the workshop, each FWEN participant spoke briefly about her business concept and received personalized feedback and suggestions from Mr. Strauss. “This meeting confirmed our potential,” said Hayfa, 24, a FWEN participant who aspires to start the first recycling plant in the West Bank.  Per Mr. Strauss’ suggestion look for Hayfa’s profile on LinkedIn in the coming days!

Hip-Hop and Breakdance Performance at TYO Center

Havikoro and Identity gave an electric and interactive performance for almost 200 community members at the TYO Center in the Zafer al-Masri Foundation Building in Nablus today. Young Nablus residents were engaged from start to finish, clapping, dancing and at times singing along with the performers.

Earlier in the day, Havikoro, a Houston-based hiphop and breakdance group, held a workshop for Identity, a group of young dancers and rappers from Askar refugee camp in Nablus. Together, the performers worked to improve their craft and talked about the importance of art in building bridge and transcending national boundaries.

Havikoro, based in Houston, Texas, is touring the West Bank and Jerusalem with the support of a Performing Arts Initiative grant from the US Department of State and the US Consulate General in Jerusalem. See their moves here, and keep your eyes on this page for video of the Nablus performance in the coming days. The group brings a positive message to young people around the world through breakdance other forms of hiphop.  They have shared the stage with artists and associations such as Destiny’s Child, Coolio, Black Eyed Peas, and P.O.D.

The universality of music – and hiphop culture specifically – were evident from the first glimpse of their workshop this morning, when it was impossible to separate one group from the other. Many attendees were overheard wondering who was who throughout the performance! Participants also bonded across their language barrier about the need for an Energy Drink after lunch, and enjoyed a Red Bull together before putting finishing touches on the performance. This immediate bond demonstrates the power of public diplomacy, particularly engaging youth, as described by Undersecretary Judith McHale – check out our post about her comments on the subject here. Earlier this month, Ann Stock – Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs – confirmed the Public Diplomacy’s section’s commitment to such cultural exchanges, citing them as “essential for achieving America’s foreign policy objectives and for strengthening America’s international leadership.”

TYO is grateful to our friends American Voices and the Cultural Section of the US Consulate for facilitating this energizing cultural exchange – we look forward to further cooperation!