The Residential Weekend, 30/01/15-02/02/15, Swarthghyll Farm, Yorkshire
Dales. UK.
From the Friday 30th January
to Monday 2nd February, volunteers from
various parts of the UK, and myself took part in a Residential
weekend with Palestinian students at Swarthyghll Farm in the Yorkshire Dales.
On the Friday, we arrived at the farm
from a longer journey than expected due to the snowy/icy conditions.
However, the view of the mountains covered in snow was magnificent.
On the first day we took the chance to
greet the Palestinian students, we were allocated into groups and
asked to plan to do certain tasks as a group. This was very
beneficial, as it obliged us to interact and cooperate; I personally
felt this was a great way to get to know each other, especially when
there was a language barrier. In addition, we established hopes and
ideas for the weekend and on the contrary, we discussed what we did
not want happening such as arguments, etc.
At the farm there was no wi-fi
connection or phone signal. Personally, I felt that this was
splendid, as everyone talked to each other, played games, socialized
and I did not feel that no one was trying to exclude themselves from
the group activities by texting or social media.
On the second day, after a good night’s
rest, we set out walking in the snowy hills. We played in the snow,
throwing snowballs at each other, laughing and having fun. We took
lovely pictures of the walk. We felt that the group was starting to
connect very well.
Later on that day, a few of the British
volunteers and myself presented about Britain. This included British
culture, stereotypes, life as a student in the UK, from a British and
International perspective and various social problems faced in a city
like Manchester. I received feedback from some of the Palestinians
who said they found the presentation educational, and that it changed
massively their knowledge and perspectives on Britain. This was
compared to their prior knowledge they had of Britain.
For dinner (supper), we all ate
Shepherd’s Pie, a traditional English food. We also showed the
Palestinian Students British etiquette at the table and compared it
to what Palestinian etiquette is like. The Palestinians showed us
this the following night and we found that the 2 etiquettes were very
contradicting.
The following day, Sunday, was the
Palestinian day. We started this day by eating “Foul Mudammas” -
a traditional meal from the Levant. Later on that day, we listened to
all the Palestinian students present to us about a bit of Palestinian
culture but mainly political issues in their countries and some
personal stories involving these issues.
Personally, I found these presentations life-changing with regards to my perspectives about what is happening in Palestine. This was because I heard stories from Palestinians who are currently residing in Palestine and have had numerous experiences as victims of the political repression in their country. Getting to know the students on a personal level, as I got to during the weekend, made me feel for their cause and obliged to help them fight for their human rights in their home country.
It was a wonderful and amazing weekend where we made some really good friends. I personally feel that this weekend was an amazing, life-changing weekend. In my opinion, what made the weekend so special and functional, was: the allocation of groups (a mixture of English and Palestinian Students, living in a big house together in the countryside where co-operation and interaction were a must, and also the effort that CADFA put in to make this weekend work and all the ideas, events and activities that brought us (the British and Palestinian Students) together.
Henry
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