Mariam talks about her motivation for participating in ‘Letters from Palestine’, a joint Encompass and Solutions Not Sides programme which connects high school students in Palestine with students in the UK via a letter exchange, as well as what she learnt during the process:

“I decided to take part in the letters from Palestine project to do something new and to learn how to talk about my country (Palestine) and how to educate others about it, about its culture, and about the Palestinian reality we are living in, because most people around the world barely know anything about it. Therefore, I feel like it is my job to speak up and tell the world about Palestine and the Palestinian reality. In addition, I have also joined this program in order to learn how listen to others; learn about their countries, cultures and lives.

I think that this project is important because some people believe in some stereotypes or think that Palestine is not a very good country because it has been occupied since ages, or they may think that the occupation is caused by Palestinians, but that is not true.

Furthermore, I am the type of person who likes to get to know new people and learn about new cultures from other countries, as this enhances the social spirit.

In this project I got to know new people and was able to tell my stories to new people, to meet them in a new place, and to get to know the city itself. I didn’t have any difficulties in this project, because I dealt with the kindest people and those with a social spirit, so it was comfortable to deal with them.

Well, I have had a lot of beautiful memories and one of them best is when all the teams met together in Nablus where we had very interesting activities and after that we went on an educational trip where we visited the national park and the old city of Nablus. We had lots of fun there. One last thing I would like to mention is that I am so excited to proceed with this project and for sure take part in more such programs with Encompass Trust in the future.

Thank you all ( Mrs.Karen AbuZant, Mr.Mohammed, Mr.Adel and Encompass Trust), and everyone who gave us this great chance to take part in such an interesting program.”