Help the Children

Recent Events Media Course Personal Identity Workshop A brief summary of events in 2004 Mothers Day in Palestine RTI Club organizes a Ramadan breaking of the fast A Day in the Sun for Bethlehem's Children International Day of the Palestinian Child

Remember the innocents — January through June 2004 In the first half of 2004, RTI Club members met once a week to discuss important issues and to have fun together as a group. They used their meetings to discuss and plan workshops, activities and meetings with different groups and delegations from abroad. Because they have been working together for nearly a year and a half, the RTI Club members have had time to form strong friendships and are able to work together effectively to make any activity a success. Several new members also joined the RTI club in 2004, bringing in important new perspectives and ideas to the group. During this time, the RTI Club met with four delegations: The Fellowship of Reconciliation [FOR]: In addition to the regular RTI members, thirty children came to participate in a discussion with the FOR delegation. Just for fun, a clown was also brought in to play with the children. The Anglican Bishops: The RTI Club met with a group of bishops from the United States. They discussed many subjects together and the club members talked about their personal ambitions in life, what they wanted to study after finishing high school, the difficulties and challenges they faced while living under Occupation and what their hopes were for the future. Every Church a Peace Church: club members met with twenty delegates from the Every Church a Peace Church group and discussed the Apartheid Wall and the consequences of its construction, especially for people living in the West Bank. The delegates had many questions for the RTI club and also shared their own opinions on the current situation. The RTI club used these meetings and discussions to express themselves and to send a message to people living abroad, especially people within their own age group (children and teenagers), about their feelings, dreams, hopes and aspirations. Once they've met with a group or an individual, RTI club members stay in contact with them and the relationship continues to develop. These connections can bring mutual benefits in many different ways and can lead to joint projects-for example, a cultural exchange between Palestinian teenagers and another group in Europe, North America or elsewhere. Many journalists who come to Bethlehem enjoy interviewing children and teenagers from the RTI club. In the past, journalists have come to make documentaries about different topics concerning the lives of children in Bethlehem and have used members of the RTI club as a resource. For example, an English director came to Bethlehem in April and wanted to do a documentary on Palestinian teenagers. So he came to the Holy Land Trust office and filmed interviews with the RTI Club members. In the months of January and February, a Yoga trainer from the United States came to Bethlehem to give Yoga lessons for children and young adults. She trained the RTI Club members in the art of Yoga for nearly two months by giving them a weekly two-hour lesson. Relaxation exercises helped RTI members to change their moods and get out of the depressing atmosphere and circumstances that they have been living in. The RTI members coordinated activities for the children in Bethlehem: On the 21st of March 2004, RTI members honored Mother's Day and organized visits to three different locations in Bethlehem. The goal was to honor Palestinian mothers and show appreciation for the work they do. They visited some mothers in the Rehabilitation Society of Beit Jala and the Holy Family Hospital and the Lajee community center in the Aida Refugee Camp. A small celebration was held there to honor the mothers. The celebration was coordinated with some other activities that had been planned by children from the camp. On the 12th of April 2004, the RTI Club celebrated Easter with fifty children. They had an Easter egg hunt and other games, they watched a cartoon movie, and they played question and answer game. The Remember the Innocents [RTI] department focuses on developing and supporting the activities and projects of children and young adults in the Bethlehem area and other locations throughout Palestine. RTI supported an open day at the Saint Joseph school in Bethlehem, by offering small gifts and presents and by helping to organize games. RTI also offered some funding to help guarantee the success of that program. Additionally, RTI helps fund a variety of courses, workshops, and summer camps. Currently, the RTI is preparing to support several summer camps in the Bethlehem area. RTI members will support these efforts by participating at the summer camps as volunteers and trainers. On the 4th of June 2004, the famous American actor Richard Gere visited Bethlehem for three hours. During this time he came to the Peace Centre in Bethlehem in order to have a theatre workshop and an open discussion with the RTI Club and other students. They started the workshop by watching some sketches of a private play performed by students from the Saint Joseph School. The play presented perspectives on the daily life of Palestinian girls (the school's students) and their thoughts, dreams and troubles, especially their difficulties dealing with incursions and curfews. After the performance, Gere sat with the girls who performed in the play and the RTI Club. Together they discussed the play, the performance and drama in general. Gere told them that he was very impressed by the performance. He was especially impressed by the fact that the girls had very little previous experience with acting and drama but had been able to execute the scenes very skillfully in a way that he considered to be very professional and convincing. He also talked with the girls about their ambitions after the Tawjihi and what ambitions they had for the future. After that, some of the RTI Club members asked him some questions, and they discussed them together.