New Askar Refugee Camp/Nablus, Palestine
Getting off of the last Ramallah-to-Nablus bus I didn’t know what to expect. When I told family and friends back home that I was going to be in the West Bank for the summer, I got mixed reactions. Some were excited while others…not so much. But no matter whom I told, when the question, “how long are you going to be there?” was asked, and I replied with “ten”, the assumption always was that the next word would be “days”, when in fact it was “weeks”. Ten weeks. That was how long I was going to be in the West Bank.
Surprisingly, the ten weeks passed by faster than I could have imagined. I found myself writing my fifth “Weekly Report” when it hit me that I was halfway done! From teaching English 4 days a week and traveling throughout the Palestinian territories, to running my United Nations workshop during Camp “I Have a Dream” there were few moments to spare. I spent most of the summer living and working in New Askar Refugee Camp, with my two other Inspire Dreams volunteers. I still catch myself doing a double take when I tell people that I lived in refugee camps for ten weeks. However, what was lacking in material comfort was made up for in personal connections. All the kids we met and taught were great, but I was able to really connect with one family in particular.
The Yaesh family is one of a kind. Nasser Yaesh, better known as Abu Moaz is the village elder of New Askar Camp. He helped us setup our English classes, made sure we were well fed every morning, and recruited kids for our summer camp. His children and their cousins were our star pupils and I would get phone calls from them almost everyday making sure we were going to show up to our own English classes…talk about excitement for the classroom!
Overall, I would have to say that the most “inspiring” days for me were Camp “I Have a Dream" graduation days because they were the culmination of everything we were doing—the successes of the classroom, the appreciation of the parents, and the “dreams” and accompanying smiles of the kids. Those days were also bittersweet. Sweet because there is no greater feeling of fulfillment than a genuine thank you from someone you care about and bitter because although one realizes the work is never done, time is limited. It was during these graduation days that I realized why I came to the West Bank for ten weeks and why I was sure I would come back.
Omar Noureldin is a recent graduate of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. He held leadership positions with Students for Justice in Palestine, the International Relations Club, and the largest student non-profit organization in the world, the Corp.
