The beginning of a new term!

A new, exciting term is starting for the twinning groups in England and Palestine. Yesterday, Matthew and I (Mary), the two new volunteers in Abu Dis, had a tour of the schools where we will be facilitating the twinning links and met with the principals and teachers. We can’t wait to meet the students this week!

Update on the kids' visit from Palestine

Update on the kids' visit from Palestine

Following the Israelis’ holding the head teacher from Abu Dis Boys' School at the border to Jordan, our 16 Palestinian visitors including 12 children did not manage to get to their flight on Sunday. They had been planning to join us for five days in Devon followed by a week in London.

It’s hard to describe how disappointing this is. The very best we can do now is to bring the whole group to Britain NEXT SUNDAY. This means that the days in Devon cannot happen, this time, and the programme will need to be reorganised completely. 

We are taking up the case of Mazen Salahaldin, the Headteacher who has not been allowed to travel. We would be grateful if you would help by asking your MP about it and by getting press attention for this if you can.


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Something you want to show from London ?

We asked the pupils at LSU to bring something which can represent their life in London.
So, the students brought different things like an umbrella, the oyster card...
Indeed, its things which they use often in London

English quizz for Palestinians' kids

Traditions and Cultures

Monday 13th May,

Today we looked at cultures and traditions in different countries around the world. We began by seeing if they could match up the cultures and traditions of different countries with each other using picture cards. We then talked about important traditions in Palestine which included, music, food, dabke, embroidery, traditional houses and symbols of Palestine. We also taught them about important traditions and cultures in Britain, they were surprised to hear that British food is a mix of food from all over the world! Then they wrote and drew about traditions that were important to them. Many students drew the Dome of the Rock and expressed their sadness at not being allowed to visit it.

Some of the students great work:

Hope and Dreams

Monday 6th May, 2013

Working with the 8th grade students we looked at future plans, hopes and dreams. After brainstorming lists of jobs we got the students to think about their future and what job they would like to do. We encouraged them to think about where they would like to live, what they would like to study at University and any hopes they have. They came up with lots of interesting ideas, and many wrote about travelling and learning English.

Here are some ideas that they came up with:

Palestine Quizz

What continent is Palestine in?
2.     What language do people speak in Palestine?
3.     What is the capital of Palestine?
4.     Another famous city in Palestine?
5.     Name one sea that is next to Palestine?
6.     Name one sort of Palestinian food?
7.     A famous Palestinian?
8.     What religions do people have in Palestine?
9.     One thing that Palestine is famous for?
10.                       One problem that people have in Palestine?

We gave this Palestine questionnaire to the students and they did it by pairs. The answers were heterogeneous so, it was funny.