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Sam and Ruth's Blog from Ibillin
Chapter 3
10/26/2013; 5 pm
The last two days have given us some idea of our future
responsibilities. On Friday (not a school day in respect to
Muslims) we helped entertain two groups of 20 or more who came to meet
Abuna (that's Elias Chacour, the founder of the schools) and for tours
of the schools. At the moment there are four volunteers here -
Kate Proud, who will be here one more week, Franziska, a German
student, and the two of us. All four of us were busy with the two
groups. The first were about twenty from The Netherlands who
arrived at 9:30 for a talk with Abuna in a small high school
auditorium. We greeted them, and then provided refreshments and
handled the table of books and videos available after the talk (Abuna
stayed to sign books and carry on conversations). Kate took them
on a tour, while Franceska went back to the guest house to help Badiya
(the cook) set up tables and help prepare luncheon. We stayed
with Abuna for the second talk, to 24 Mennonites, mostly from the US
West Coast. He handled the two groups differently, addressing the
Dutch while being less formal and more conversational with the
Mennonites. In both cases he made the final point that he hoped
for their support for the schools and for peace in the land in the
future. Paraphrasing, he said " If you want to emphasize the bad
behavior of Israeli Jews and the sad plight of the Palestinians, that's
ok, but that is not the support I wish. I want support in my
efforts to make this an inclusive country in which all people live
peacefully together."
We again handled the book sales and refreshments, cleaned up the area,
put away the unsold books and took the papers and proceeds back to the
guesthouse. Kate helped us sort out the money, and we took it to
Abuna so that he could carry it back to his office in Haifa. He
is the Bishop of the Melkite or Greek Catholic Church in Israel.
It is the largest Christian denomination in Israel with 80,000
members, and he holds the top position. He said in his talks that
he would much rather be back at the schools, into which he has poured
most of his life.
When we brought the money to him we had an opportunity to talk briefly
with him; we hope that there will be more opportunities in the
future.
We returned to the guest house to help clean up the lunch tables and
dishes. The Dutch visitors seemed to find the dining room very
comfortable and pleasant, and stayed on talking well past their
promised departure time. I think we weren't finished until after
three.
In the time that remained Ruth and I took a short walk into the
neighborhood of the village near the schools. We did not go far -
perhaps a quarter of a mile (half down and then the other half up.)
We did find a small shopping area with mostly clothing and
grocery stores, and perhaps the music school we are seeking. One
person we encountered spoke good English. She is a medical
student home for a day from her studies in Haifa. Otherwise it
was all friendly faces and Arabic.
This morning (Saturday) we had a short visit with the Middle School
Principal, Victor. We also encountered a young man advertising
his campaign for school council. Here he is on the left with his
campaign manager.
I have not mentioned three Americans here to introduce steel drums to
the country and to attempt to form inter-cultural bands, using as
an example the cross-cultural work of Daniel Barenboim in creating an
Arab-Israeli youth orchestra. The foundation which supports them
has sent twenty new steel drums to Ibillin, and for the past week
Harvey Price, a percussionist from Philadelphia, has been forming a
band with twelve MEEI middle school students. Today we went to
their last practice and a short performance for parents and faculty who
could attend. The event was remarkable inseveral ways.
Harvey is clearly a great teacher and motivator and the children
are quick learners. We have a short video of the performance (but
I don't know how to add it as a HTML feature. You will just have
to be happy with a few stills. I really don't have space to tell
of every aspect of their project, but you can learn a lot from their website and facebook page.
The three steel drummers are off to the Dead Sea this afternoon, and
will be up early for their return flight today. In the meantime,
four hiking pilgrims from Italy are making a stop here this evening.
They have come from Acre, and tomorrow will hike on 15 miles to
Nazareth. The cook has the night off, so Ruth and Kate are in
charge. More about that later.
