By Margot LaPanse
We started our day with a visit to Wi’am, a conflict resolution center located adjacent to the Aida Refugee Camp. Wi’am is located near the part of the Wall where Pope Francis stopped to pray during his 2014 visit to Palestine. While at Wi’am we learned about their efforts to deal with some of the side effects of the occupation. The unemployment rate in the camps is between 30 and 40 percent. This results in a sense of despair which can sometimes manifest itself in domestic violence in a culturally patriarchal society. We were told that in Arab culture saving face is a huge priority. The staff at Wi’am explained to us that they help coach people to develop negotiation skills using pragmatic tools such as the 3 day truce. They also work as advocates for women’s inheritance, and provide a summer camp for refugee children.
After our discussion at the Wi’am Center, Usama led us on a walking tour of the Aida Camp. The camp is a bleak and desolate space, littered with trash and the remnants of many skirmishes with the Israeli military: tear gas canisters, rubber bullets, and marbles that the Palestinian children use in slingshots. There is no greenery, and little beauty to be seen. We did, however run across two young boys kicking a ball outside a preschool. There were Winnie-The-Pooh characters painted on the side of the building and the children were engrossed with their game, much like young childre nall over the world. I wondered what will become of these two little boys. Will they survive childhood and be able to live full lives? Will they be given a good education, and an opportunity to earn a decent living doing work that can contribute to their society? The world owes these children a chance at a more hopeful future.
