Palestinian Women Taking Initiative
It's a big honour for me to tell about my first Arabs' workshop, which was also my first experience in leading. It was an adventure for me for several reasons:
- I have only been two years in RC
- It was the first completely Arab RC workshop led by an Arab woman
- I'm a woman!! leader!!
Even though I was afraid, I decided I was going to do it. So I asked Nahed if she was ready to organize it, and she agreed willingly. I also had a great counselor named Oreet, and she supported me very well. She's an expert about liberation, and she helped me with all of her strength and love and knowledge.
The main subject of the workshop was Arab liberation, but I also needed to present RC theory and the no-socializing policy. I did my best to make the workshop informative, and I think it was.
We focused mainly on the following issues:
- Arabs' oppression by different nations
- Arabs' oppression by Arabs
- Being a proud Arab
- Belonging.
We were thirteen people, so it was easy to give individual attention to each person. The organizer worked hard. We were a good team. Everybody wanted to help; they haven't stopped calling and offering their help.
What I learned:
- To give myself enough time to prepare. It was only three weeks from my decision to lead the workshop until the workshop. I learned not to go this fast again.
- To read the invitations before sending them
- That a responsible team can organize well
- That one who is working honestly from his or her heart will succeed absolutely
- That it's important to have an understanding husband.
Some of the participants' reactions to this workshop:
Ramyia: 'For a while I felt far from my roots, but you (Nouha) took me back to them with more love, respect, and pride.'
Mervat: 'Closeness. You gave us hope that there will be peace between people because all people are good.'
Mohamad: 'We will go back home (to the West Bank) with a lot of work to do with this new information. It was wonderful that we used our language only.'
Nemer: 'Nouha is one of us, so she has the same feelings and oppressions. This made the workshop very good, as did her love and serious work.'
Nouha Hijab
Makker,
Israel