Sahar's summary

My Dear Friends

Everyone who asks me how the camp was, I tell them – a long process.

That's short to explain what we have been through these two weeks together.

I believe that the process made a great change in us, everyone in the Israeli group, me personally, and I hope you too. I went through stages of self defense, anger, hopeless moods, and then sympathy, empathy, friendships, trust, and hope again.

I believe that we went together from self deception to recognizing the other side, and even feeling the other side's feelings.

I told you on the day we said goodbyes – I don't know what will happen in the future. I don't know what can I do right now to change anything, but I'm not without hope, because I know that some day I will have the opportunity to change something in our reality. And it doesn't matter if it will be today, tomorrow or when I'm 40 years old. All I know is that I take this camp with me, where ever I go, and if there will be an opportunity to bring it up I'll tell others everything I went through with you.

I want to share with you what I wrote on the yellow note – what am I taking with me from this camp:

• Memories of the process we made and how we changed our emotions and opinions.
• The ability to listen to someone else's pain, without the need to immediately express mine. To see both sides and not to live in self deception.
• With no anger, and no revenge, only listening.
• I take the ambition to trust the Palestinians, because it's the only way.
• To remember that our problem is the mutual mistrust and the fear that haunts us, to give up a little bit of our safe spot, because only when you expose your vulnerability you can get to the good things in life, just with a little bit of trust.
• We are all human beings that want to live in peace and to fulfill our rights, and I understand the need to call out when it doesn't happen.
• To give time to the solution, to look for the long term and not to loose hope. If not today then tomorrow, if not this year then the next one, or in the age of 40, sometime the opportunity to change, to effect will come.
• I want to take all of the people's smiles. The warmth, the real will to make us feel good. The friendships.
• My good friends, supporting and loving, laughing and crying (from laughter).
• The warmth of the leaders' team.
• People's real intentions.
• Everyone's belief that there is a future. There is hope to live in peace, sometime.

Ines wrote

Ines wrote an article for an Austrian youth magazine, which is provided by her organisation ("Evangelische Jugend"). Ines translated the text and you can read it here:

Meeting of minds among adolescents – „future through cooperation“

dialogue4thefuture

Diary entry of the dialogue until:
„We are not part of the problem, but part of the solution!“

Participants:
8 Hungarians: Alex, Misi, Vicky, Adri, Kinga, Peter, Ezster, Zsofi;
8 Palestinians: Reem, Anas, Lina, Ibrahim, Tareq, Mais, Safa, Samer;
4 Austrians: Martin, Christina, David, Caro;
6 Israelis: Sahar, Lilach, Koren, Sharon, Naama, Yoni

and all of them were impressive;

Custodians:
1 Hungarian: Eszter
2 Palestinians: Wisam, Mazen (Parents Circle)
1 Austrian: Hans
2 Israelis: John, Ariella (Parents Circle)

Prearrangement team: Evelyn Nöbauer (Camp leader), Veronika Schwaiger, Hans Steinmaurer, Roland Werneck, Ines Hauser, Olivier Dantine
Leaders of the workshops: Manfred Rühl, Klaus Pahr, Lisa Kolb, Leyla Helbich, Michael Ingber

Visitors: Paul Gulda, Marwan Abbado, Aiosha Biz, Bert Kenyeri

Organisation of event: Dagmar Lassmann (Diakonie-Auslandhilfe, Roland Werneck-Evangelsiche Akademie Wien, Silke Dantine – Concentrum Stadtschlaining, Ines Hauser-Evangelische Jugend Österreich, Parents Circle – Families Forum, Hungarian Interchurch Aid (HIA)

Who is the problem? Generally, it’s “the others”, the foreigners, those we don’t know and don’t want to get to know. I remember a text about “foreignness”, its final (ironic) sentence is: “Being a foreigner is a crime which cannot be compensated anymore”. This sentence may be absolutely agreed with, if the matter is rest with foreignness, if not even xenophobia. Those two weeks of “meeting of minds” showed me a lot, in other words, proved that black is white and that being foreign, being strange, in whatever way, must never be seen as “a crime”. In those two weeks we got to know each other, conducted conversations, were shocked, cried and laughed with each other and finally uncovered: “We are not part of the problem, but part of the solution!” Well organized workshops helped us uncovering this: Through games which made us discuss for finding corporate solutions. Through background information and intense examination of the history and policy of Israel and Palestine. Through the theatre of the oppressed that made particular feelings for one’s opposition obvious. Through trips to Vienna, the Neusiedler See (lake) and other experiences which connect each other. We got to know insights into other cultures, every day situations and traditional cuisines. Comprehension questions moved us to question already posed questions, experiences and muddle to saddle the horse from the back. Pictures which moved us from our secure campsite into frightening scenes to Israel/ Palestine. The way to the army in one or more months. Together, way above the Austrian, Hungarian, Israeli and Palestine borders – for 14 days – living together with others and experiencing things with others and about others… All those workshops, corporate experiences and especially the will and wish to unite different nationalities, point of views and personalities in such an extraordinary camp helped us to recognise that we have made a big step towards the solution…however solution is defined.
Much more could be written about those fourteen wonderful days. But it is sure that it will be much more interesting to read the participants’ experiences in the blog.

Evelyn wrote...

Thank you so much, It has been a great and wonderful time to stay with you. I’m proud and really honoured that I had the chance to spend such a great 14 days with you all. Everyone is back home and I hope you’ve had a save trip especially the Palestinias as your journey is the one with the most obstacles. You’ve been a such a wonderful group, I can’t describe it in words but I try.
Interested, dedicated, sensitive, cordial, lovely, and so on. I’m looking back in a bit melancholy – it’s raining today – and I’m a bit sad. I’m sitting here thinking about you and I look at my t-shirt and read the words you’ve written. Thanks for the Sweathart, Big Love, Big Mama und the Queen of the Camp and the nice lines I’ve got from you all. Thanks for the great team-work and punctuality – did you realize we have added 15 more minutes .... hihihi?
Samer my Big Love you have forgotten to write something on my shirt? Thanks for your lines on the letter. You are a great person!
Sahar, you worte on my shirt „At Malkar“ and on my paper „Ha Malkar“. And you always told me to say „Any malkar“ – do you want to confuse me???
Yoni, till now I don’t know what has made you laugh so heartily – did I understand it right – it was only the sound how I shouted „Hansi“? I can’t help laughing heartily when looking back at the water sequence.
Sharon, you really are a great fotographer and I’ll never forget you too.
Koren, thanks for „you are so cool and so kind”. You are also a cool guy.
Liliach, thanks for your message on the blog, you are wonderful.
Naama, you are my singing Sweetheart, you wrote “I’ll never forget you, I wish you the best”. Same to you.
Reem, Safa, Lina, Mais, you wrote“ I´ll stay in touch with you, you have a nice smile, the best and only the best to our Queen”. I see you the same way.
Ibrahim, thanks for “the best Leader in this camp, stay lovely. helpfull”. I think you’ll do something great and will play an important role in the Dialogue.
Anas, Tareq, thanks for the compliment „my mother in Austria“.
Tareq I’m happy that I look like your mother too.
Kinga, Sophie, Eszter, Adri, Alex, Vicky, Peter and Misi you are all sweet and lovely. Christina, Martin and Dan, we are not too far away from each other. I’m looking forward to seeing you again.
Thousend thanks to the team, to Hansi, our master for the blog and video-workshop and for taking care for the austrian youths, to Veronika, our Dancing Queen, to Ines, the handcrafts master and Campnewsletter columnist, to Roland, the man for organizational stuff. Insider – where is Roland, the opera-singing, vietnamese werewolf... hihihi Thanks to the extended team Eszter, I’ll never forget your mischievous laugh and your wit. But please bear in mind not to bring too many girls to a camp... this brings hard work. Ariella , you are such a cordial and clever woman. John, it’s been a pleasure for me to have you as a balanced, always smilinges person in the camp. By the way, because of you I wasn’t the eldest in the camp ...hihihihi Mazen, thanks for your kooperative team-work. Wisam, I wish you new insights and perceptions on what concerns freedom of women. Manfred and Klaus, you’ve asked the participants after your outdoor activities what their highlights were. Your co-operation was super and for me the highlights of both days were you. Manfred, you’ve triggered a „game addiction“ with your werewolf-game, which thrilled all youths of the participating countries. Tom, thanks for your free-spirited manner. The juggling-workshop was real fun. Lisa and Leyla, the theater-workshop contributed figuratively to new perceptions of the participants. Michael, thanks for your historical backgrounds. For some paricipants a lot was new and discussions could become alive. Olivier and Silke, thanks for being so spontaneous when taking care of our various issues.
A camp can only be so successful when many great people are on site, who unterstand the youths and respond to them. I think we did it – alltogether!
I’ll never forget you. I love you all. It was a great pleasure to be the camp-leader of the international youth camp 2007 „Zukunft durch Begegnung“ „- „Dialogue 4 the Future“ in Rechnitz.
Es war mir eine große Ehre und Freude Camp-Leiterin des Internationalen Jugendcamp 2007 „Zukunft durch Begegnung“ - „Dialog 4 the Future“ in Rechnitz zu sein.

Evelyn Nöbauer

Austrian Radio

The report about the camp in Ö1 (Austrian Radio) will be broadcasted on Thursday, 26th of July at 18:25.
To open the live-webradio just click here. Sorry again, just in german :-(

Online gallery

Click here to see some new impressions of the camp.