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.)
