Twinning in Action progress...

Amazing to think that this great project has been going on since 2014, and about all the different things that have happened! It's not just about fun of course, it's a serious attempt to build strong twinning links between Camden and other places in the UK with Abu Dis and other twinning partners in Palestine, and the reason for that is to promote human rights. Well, so far the project has been working on both levels. I think we thought it would be a good project but that we couldn't imagine how far it would really go and how much would come out of it.

I've just been looking at some bits of film from the very first day of the twinning leaders' visit in the end of 2014 and thinking what great people have been involved in the project, and what a story it has been - and not finished yet.  

Here (above) are some of the leaders on the first exchange, on their way from Newcastle to the Lake District (when the coach finally turned up!!); then (right) in a first meeting at the residential - with a picture of Najah waving a spoon around - Was that to show there was going to be a lot of discussion about cooking (remember porridge and jreesheh?). 

In January 2015, there was an exchange of university students that took 15 Palestinian students to join UK students in the snow and ice of the  Yorkshire Dales. Lots memorable on that visit. The near-panic by the students when they discovered that neither internet nor telephone would work there... and their evaluation of the best part of the residential (later) as having no internet (!!). The snow and ice themselves. Huge amounts of learning. Preparing for good meetings in universities across the north of the UK and then London.  New links for universities including Leeds and Goldsmith's. Khalid and Ayesha... (best wishes and congratulations to you both).

In March 2015, there was the women's exchange beginning with a residential in North Wales...so many good parts of that. The discoveries, surprise and new friendships; the work together...  I remember the singing workshops and the open evening for people in the village with the Palestinian young women beautiful in traditional thobs - before the group headed off to different towns and then to London...

In June 2015, the amazing youth visit that reached Norfolk (serious meetings to exchange experiences in the sun and wind near the sea) and then involved so many youth activities in London before a final evaluation weekend in Surrey. Every exchange packed with good and interesting experiences for participants with opportunities to make film (the students), sing (the women), do drama (the young people), and reaching out always to enable new people to be involved or join the audiences of public meetings.

All this while, we were waiting (and making arguments but not sure we'd win) to see if we would be given the go-ahead for the Twinning in Action youth exchanges from the UK to Palestine. For a year, Erasmus + (funder) was unable to answer.  The UK parts of the project were hugely positive but we hoped to be able to do the Palestinian parts too... 

In the end, it worked, though the autumn exchanges were postponed first because Erasmus + answered so late, and then to review the situation in the light of events in Palestine - but we went ahead in spring.

It is really a terrible time in Palestine. We were very struck by the worsening of the situation. The military occupation is always in evidence, there are many invasions, house demolitions, arrests, the settlements are visibly growing, people are confining themselves as there is fear of travelling and pressure on everyone.  About 200 young people have been killed between October to March. 

We decided to go having done an up to date risk assessment for our visitors and checking the FCO advice as we need to do.  Our friends in Palestine had hesitated in the autumn but they wanted the exchanges to go ahead, and wanted more and more people to understand the situation and return to tell people about it.

These were better exchanges to Palestine than the dozens of visits we had organised before. For the first time, we echoed the exchange design we use in the UK and started each one with a residential for Palestinians as well as people from the UK. So the leaders' exchange to Palestine in February started in (very cold) Faraa - and the students' exchange started in (lovely warm) Jericho (also February).

The leaders' exchange gave us a chance to look at where we'd got to in the first year of the project. The leadership of the exchanges had broadened but we needed more focus on the communication, blogs and media to support twinning work between exchanges. The group looked at the work of twinning groups in villages and towns across Palestine, and planned the upcoming exchanges.

The students' exchange was really an amazing one... (blogs, pictures, videos are on here and there is much more that we hope will be posted soon)> Each time we include more people, strengthen our leadership team, develop more twinning possibilities and learn more things. 

We are expecting the next stages to get better still. Our (postponed) young women's exchange to Palestine will be in May, working with a number of women's centres and starting in the Women's Union in Beit Sahour.  In July, we will have a youth exchange for school/ college students.

And in September 2015 we'll have our final evaluation leaders' exchange including our TWINNING IN ACTION conference on September 17th. We hope that many of the people who have been involved in the UK - students, women, youth and other CADFA members as well as the 15 leaders from Palestine  and the UK participants on that visit - will be able to come. We'll also be inviting CADFA's new partners from across Europe (Norway, Ireland, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Slovenia and Bulgaria) and others are very welcome indeed to come!