Marhaba From Palestine

The Palestinian Summer Celebration 2007

Come and celebrate Palestine, learn Arabic, study history, know the people and their culture, share some time with local families and volunteer with a local community organization

The First month starts at June 20th – July 22nd 2007.

The Second Month starts July 23rd – August 20th 2007.

http://www.sirajcenter.org/courses.htm

Now you can check the organizations who are taking part in the program: http://www.sirajcenter.org/volunteer.htm 

The Palestinian summer celebration is a unique annual program that gives people from all over the world the chance to encounter the life and culture in Palestine in addition to donating some of their time to a local community organization through voluntary work and internships.  The Palestinian summer celebration 2007 will take place in the Bethlehem area in Palestine, between Wednesday June 20th  and August 18th 2007. the annual celebration is organized by Siraj Center for Holy Land Studies www.sirajcenter.org in partnership with Bethlehem University www.bethlehem.edu and the US based Society for Biblical Studies, www.sbsedu.org .
Participants will also have the opportunity to listen and question high level speakers of various positions and expertise.

During the first month, participants will be able to study Arabic and in the second month participants will study  Arabic and History courses. 

The Palestinian Summer Celebration welcomes participants for the time appropriate for them, starting one week until tow months. 

Deadline for Registration: June 10th 2007

Educational opportunity:
An Arabic language Course and a Modern Palestine Course are offered by Bethlehem U as apart of the program. Three credits hours will be given for each course, upon the participant’s request.

An opportunity to serve a good cause:
Voluntary work in over 50 different organizations in  Bethlehem and the surrounding  towns of Beit Sahour, Beit Jala and Doha, also in the three refugee camps in the vicinity Dehaisheh, Aida and Azza who have been suffering the longest tragedy in the history of humanity. 
Tips of anticipated voluntary work

1. Office work, like writing, editing, web design
2. Work with Children at Summer camps and Children centers
3. Physical work in agriculture, schools and centers

All participants are invited to submit their resumes so we can send it to a number of organizations and set you up at the right place where your skills and effort are most needed and appreciated.

Where to go home to:
Accommodation will be in the hospitality of  local families in the Bethlehem and the vicinity depending on the voluntary work place.  Participants will have the chance to share the lives of the local family’s and get exposed to real life situation where they can practice there freshly learnt Arabic  and  Palestinian culture, experience the tasty traditional Palestinian dishes and all other aspects of Palestinian extended family life. Such an experience will give the participants the chance to build relations with their host families that may last for ever.  
Never the less accommodations at guesthouses are available for daily, weekly or monthly rates

Other activities:

1. Hiking, participants will have the opportunity to take short and long hikes during the period of their stay in Palestine so they can enjoy wonderful outdoor experiences. 
2. Lecture: There will be a lecture about various topics every Tuesday evening.  Lecture and discussions will cover issues like the Palestinian Israeli Conflict, Health situation in Palestine, Palestinian economy, theological issues and Oriental churches, Islam and many other topics. 
3. Debkeh Dancing: Participants will be able to join Debkeh Dancing Training with local Palestinian groups.  Trainings will take place every Thursday.
4. Half days trips: During the week, participants can visit the rural areas of Bethlehem and Palestine and have the village experience; all visits will be organized by Siraj center

All activities included in the program of the Palestinian summer celebration are optional.  Which means people can do voluntary work only or study only. People can choose not to join the day tours only if they want to.

For more information regarding cost and registration form:

http://www.sirajcenter.org/courses.htm