Encompass alumnus and ‘Letters from Palestine‘ organiser, Mohammad A., talks about his motivation to create positive change in his community and explains how the idea for ‘Letters from Palestine’, a programme which connects high school students in Palestine with students in the UK via a letter exchange, came about:

“In 2018 I attended the Encompass Trust, Journey of Understanding Program in Cyprus. During this program, I came to realize how important it is for people to hear about the conflict and the struggles inflicted by it from the people who experience it daily…average Palestinians, just like me.

I also realized how important it is to help make positive changes in my community. I began doing this by teaching English in the Encompass Center in Tulkarem, by helping with youth workshops and camps that focused on identity, empowerment and community building, and by participating in workshops with like-minded educators and the New Story Leadership Program, which empowered me to speak publicly about my experiences in the conflict and the challenges Palestinians face in their daily lives.

Then, during the IntraPal Next Steps Seminar last July, alumni and new participants were challenged to create projects to bring the truth about the Palestinian people, society and occupation to light. I thought about a project that I volunteered with a few years ago called “Letters of Love”, in which is aimed at spreading smiles to refugee children through a handwritten letter.

I combined my experience with Letters of Love, Encompass JOU and New Story Leadership to develop a project where Palestinian teenagers can write letters to British teenagers, sharing stories about their lives, including traditions, culture and societal challenges.

By doing this, the participants are empowered to share the Palestine they live in, and the situations they experience first hand, without interpretation or slant from news agencies or government representatives.

We not only hope to empower our youth to speak for themselves, but also to change the negative stereotypes being promoted about Palestinians.

With the support of Encompass Trust, guidance from Encompass-Palestine coordinator, Ms. Karen, and help from other IntraPal alumni, the first phase of this project, workshops in identity, writing introduction letters, creating identity poems and drawing rivers of life, has been finished, and packages have been sent to British teenagers via the Solutions Not Sides Program.”