Walking down to Damascus Gate in Jerusalem. (Copyright Katia Dmitrieva, 2010.)

I arrived in Tel Aviv just over one week ago, after a 12-hour flight delay. The kids of Kalandia Youth Media are in school and currently writing their exams. It’s a stressful time for them, but 8 girls came out on Saturday to sit down with me and brainstorm ideas for the media program. Each girl wrote a short bio and had their photo taken for the website. I’m posting the photos now, with bio translated from Arabic to English in the works.

This summer, I’m leading two trips to the West Bank and Israel with Operation Groundswell. It’s a unique grassroots organization that takes North American youth around the world on volunteer-based backpacking trips. I was a participant a few years ago and very soon I’ll be leading one of OG’s life-changing trips! The early summer experience will focus on media and discovery, working with Kalandia youth. This means around 10 volunteers to facilitate, engage, and collaborate with kids in Kalandia. I’m extremely excited to see the end-product (a gallery show? A documentary? A radio series? Something entirely different?) of this collaboration.

Girls of KYM writing bios in the kid's centre, Kalandia refugee camp, West Bank. (Copyright Katia Dmitrieva, 2010.)

Yep- that's me in Ramallah, as shot by Naama, one of the kids I work with at Kalandia. You can see me today, discussing my experiences in the West Bank.

At 7 pm, I’ll be sitting on a panel with Lea Tremblay and Irvin Chow, two dancers who volunteered in the West Bank this summer. I’m sure we’ll have lots to talk about- since we sometimes butted heads regarding cross-cultural approaches.

Palestinian food- zatar, olive oil, etc- will be free at the event. But you’re obviously coming for the enlightening discussion- not the delicious free food, right?

More info on Remote Creations and the event here.

A game of soccer, captured by a participant of Kalandia Youth Media

I will continue to post past activities from Kalandia, since I recorded and saved all information. There are some funny anecdotes in there! Program coordinators are still working with the kids bi-weekly and I continue to send him program ideas and worksheets.

Two fantastic web designers are currently working on crafting a web space for me, which will be available by Christmas. I just realized that a blog has its limitations when you’re posting multimedia, text, photography, and trying to make the space interactive.

My goal is to expand KYM into other refugee camps in the West Bank area, creating dialogue and facilitating youth-led collaboration. For this, the program requires video equipment and mics, which will run two-thousand dollars. On top of that are overhead costs, such as transportation for the youth and a cushion of funds in case equipment breaks down and requires repair. Other things I’m looking forward to are getting guest speakers for the youth, as well as showcasing their work here in Canada and throughout the West Bank and Israel.

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