One of my most rewarding experiences thus far on Otzma has been working in the Bedouin Village of Houssinia. For the second track of Otzma, all of the Otzmanikim are scattered throughout the country in their respective sister cities. Baltimore's partners in partnership 2000 are Karmiel and Misgav and this is where I began my work with the Bedouins.
I have been working in Houssinia for about two and a half months and in two weeks I leave Karmiel to go on to my three week elective track where I will be working in the towns of Ma'alot and Tarshicha. Ma'alot is a Jewish town and Tarshicha is the neighboring Arab town. The two towns share a community and have constant interaction. It should be a very interesting follow-up to my work with the Arab Bedouins in Houssinia and my separate work with Jews in Karmiel/Misgav and the surrounding areas. Needless to say it is going to be really hard for me to leave Houssinia but the memories and experiences I have had there will be with me for a lifetime.
My two other roommates, Dan and Sharone, and I go to Houssinia two nights a week for a period of two hours each time. Dan works with a small group of the older children and Sharone and I work together with a larger group of the younger children. It was especially interesting because the first month we were there was the month of Ramadan, the holiest holiday for the Muslims. During Ramadan the Muslims fast during the daylight hours eating only when the sun sets and before the sun rises. Each day during the month of Ramadan the Muslims wake up before dawn to pray. Because of Ramadan each night we would go to Houssinia at six o'clock in the evening allowing the residents of Houssinia time for their evening meal. Many of the students we taught were of age to fast with the adults. Despite the fact that these students were in school all day, fasted, and prayed, they would come to each of our lessons with more and more enthusiasm and an unrelenting eagerness to learn.
The bedouin village of Houssinia doesn't have much, but if one were to just see the smiling, shining faces of the children, it would be hard to guess the conditions they live in. One of the main reasons Houssinia is not able to "modernize" their village is because they are still not recognized on the map. Many of the members of the village meet with the Misgav Regional Council in attempts to gain recognition, but as of now they have not yet succeeded. The road leading up to Houssinia is still not completely paved and until recently the children had to walk an hour and a half to school. Now they still must walk twenty minutes each way to school because they have a school closer to them but you never hear them complain about it.
One of the members of the village, Taha, drives a taxi for a living so each time, he comes to pick us up at our apartment to drive us to Houssinia. Taha invited us to his home one evening after work and it was a very interesting experience. I had previously visited commercial bedouin tents but I had never been to an authentic one. Taha's wife only speaks Arabic and is illiterate. Taha explained to us that the men of the village were trying to create a program to teach the older bedouin women to read and write, but many of the women, including Taha's wife, felt that they were too old to learn. It made me sad to think that Taha's wife grew up during a time where she did not have the opportunity to learn to read and write and now that the time has finally arrived, she feels that she is too old to learn.
Taha and his wife have eight children. Four are studying at different universities in Israel. Taha's daughter is studying to be a teacher, one of his son's is studying physical education, another son is studying mathematics, and the other son is studying computers at his university. His three other children are younger and still in elementary school, while Taha's youngest daughter is still a toddler. Many of the adult males in Houssinia have two wives including Taha's brother. Also many of the adults marry their first cousins.
Taha's house was small but cozy for his large family. The main room was filled with mattresses much like those that are seen in commercial bedouin tents. There was a tiny kitchen, Taha and his wife shared a bedroom, and then there was a small bedroom filled with six beds for each of the children. Books lined the walls of all the rooms. Many were just reading books, but there was also an abundance of prayer books related to the Koran and other aspects of the Muslim religion.
Dan, Sharone, and I sat in the room with the mattresses and the younger children served us coffee and tea and we ate pita with tomatoes, cucumbers, and a thick, white cheese native to Arabs called labane. Taha's wife prepared all of the food. If any of our plates has food left or our glasses still had tea or coffee in them, Taha would be insulted and insist we finish. Taha, his older children, and his brother, all tried to help us learn Arabic after our request to learn some words. They wrote down the alphabet for us and helped us to sound out the letters. I thought that Hebrew was hard, but Arabic is really tough! Overall, it was a really neat experience and I felt lucky that I was able to have a chance to spend time with Taha and his family in their home.
Taha himself speaks very little English. We communicate with him in Hebrew but it is especially difficult for me because I only know enough Hebrew to have simple conversations. Many times Taha sits in on our lessons and learns English along with the children. We also practice English with him during our cab rides. His English has definitely improved since our first meeting.
Of course my most memorable parts of Houssinia are the children we teach. My roommate Sharone and I work together with a group of about twenty children from ages eight to twelve. We teach in a building that depends on generators so when it is cold outside, it is usually cold inside the building as well. The building is basically like a trailer building. There are a bunch of tables and chairs and a dry erase board which we place in front of the tables. I have worked with many different types of students in Israel throughout my volunteer work and in America since I earned a degree in education. I can honestly say that I have never come across a group of student who are more eager to learn or are more appreciative about each new learning experience and opportunity.
This eagerness to learn portrayed by the children of Houssinia is also very different than the attitudes of most of the Israelis who I have worked with or am currently working with. For the most part the Israeli students have little desire to learn English while there is not one single student in Houssinia who is not overjoyed to have the opportunity to learn English with Americans.
Sharone and I plan lessons each week to teach to the children of Houssinia. We incorporate artwork, songs, and games into many of the lessons. Dan plays the guitar, so for many of his lessons he brings his guitar and sings songs with the students. His students enjoy this very much. Aya Ovadia, the coordinator between Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Misgav, and Karmiel, provided us with all the materials that we would need to work with the children.
The once bare walls and ceilings in our classroom building are now covered with artwork that the children have done to illustrate our lessons. For example, after learning the parts of the body, in English, we had the students trace each other's bodies on large pieces of paper and color and label all the body parts. Then we hung the finished products around the room. We also taught the students the hokey-pokey song and dance, head-shoulders-knees-and toes, and we played bingo using body parts for the spaces on the bingo boards. For prizes for the winners of bingo, we had stickers for the children. An outsider might have thought that we were giving the students gold rather than stickers, based on how excited they would get each time they won a sticker.
All of the children have to walk about a quarter of a mile to get to the building where we learn. I remember one evening it was pouring down rain and the children wanted to come so badly that they all trekked through the mud and rain so they could learn more English. Amazing!!
Each day when we arrive at Houssinia the students run up to us to show us work that they did on their own at home related to our previous lesson. Keep in mind that we never gave the students homework, they would do extra work voluntarily! For example, when we were learning about animals, many students looked in books and on computers and found pictures and names of animals and wrote them down in their notebooks to show to us! Also, when we were learning about the stars, moon, sky, rain, snow, etc., we taught the students the song, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." It was very difficult for many of the students because some of the words were very hard for them to say. We had them copy the words into their notebooks and we broke down the song and went over each part with them. The students were so excited to learn the song that each night at home they would practice the words. A week later each student could sing the song solo with basically no mistakes! The students also made pictures of stars, moons, lightning, etc. and we hung them from the ceiling.
Every week before Sharone and I leave each student runs up to us to give us a hug and a kiss goodbye. They hate to leave at the end of the lesson and if it were up to them they would stay through the night!
I have such a good feeling each time I leave Houssinia. I really feel as though we are making an impact on the children. They have really learned a lot and it will help them to become better English students and eventually fluent English speakers. I as well have learned a lot from the bedouin children of Houssinia. I have learned to appreciate life and to be thankful for what I have. I could go on and on about my experiences at Houssinia but I guess I must stop at some point. I am so greatful that I was given this opportunity because it has really been a fulfilling experience!
Adar 5761 - March 2001