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The Youth Times
"صحيفة الــ"يوث تايمز
Through panoramic glass windows of a sun-drenched
office, young Palestinian men and women look out over
one of the main crossroads near Jerusalem. They watch
the heavy traffic pass by and reflect on their lives.
They have reached a stage where choices have to be made.
There will be life styles to follow, skills to learn, a
future to plan.
They have come here – to the Palestinian Youth
Association for Leadership and Rights Activation (PYALARA)
– to join with others facing similar life decisions and
to seek some peace from the horror of conflict. At a
time when many young Palestinians express fears that
there is nothing more to loose; that they see no reason
for living or working or studying; that they feel
helpless and voiceless; PYALARA offers an alternative.
With support from UNICEF, Cordaid (The Netherlands),
Friedrich Naumann Foundation (Jerusalem), European
Union, Foundation for Middle East Peace and other
organizations, PYALARA draws approximately 150 youth,
14-22 years old.
We do not aim at converting young people, but we work
hard to show the majority of our young people a way
out,” said Hania Bitar, the director general of the
association. “Noam Chomsky sees creativity and not
acquisitiveness as the most fundamental human need. We
aim at making out young members play an active role in
serving their country and in expressing their love and
nationalism in a creative and constructive way,” she
added.
PYALARA emphasizes empowerment through communication and
media skills, ongoing workshops on leadership and
children’s rights, peer solidarity and counseling. As
one of several community service projects, it supports
student journalists who publish The Youth times, the
first and only youth paper in the Palestinian region.
Begun in 1998, the 16-page monthly newspaper, with a
circulation of 7000, is written in English and Arabic.
The students, with training and guidance from staff and
volunteers, craft the periodical from story ideas
through final production. With newly designed website
www.pyalara.org, the paper is now available throughout
the world.
More than 2000 young Palestinians have submitted their
writings to PYALARA, reaching out the national, regional
and international reader. In a world of journalism where
adult voices control the highest notes, the pens and
voices of these young Palestinians writers try to press
on the right chords. This year the journalists are
preparing a book with the working title “Young voices
from Palestine”, introducing to the world first-hand
accounts of the lives of young Palestinians.
But these young people are more than journalists; they
are young Palestinian leaders. Recognizing the physical
and psychological toll of the political situation,
PYALARA launched an outreach component called “We Care”.
This project trains college students in individual and
group counseling, helping youth to help youth. With
their willingness to give support, young adults
eventually succeed in raising the spirits of their peers
by releasing their tension, discussing their
psychological, emotional and other problems and offering
tangible solutions.
“When Ramallah was bombarded tow days ago, I held my
little sister closely .. I shut her ears with my hands
.. I did not want her to hear the shooting and the
bombardment .. I failed .. she left me and rushed to my
mom who herself was crying hysterically and feeling
helpless,” explained Dima, an 18- years- old, first-
year student at Birzeit University.
“At PYALARA hope takes a more concrete form,” explained
Saleem Habash, an 18-year-old from Ramallah and one of
the youth founders of PYALARA. “We realize our sense of
purpose and belonging, we prioritize our needs and
concerns and learn how to act upon them, we acquire
skills in media and communication and learn how to
spread awareness and open direct means of dialoguing
with our peers in Palestine and elsewhere, and we learn
ways of helping our families, peers, society and above
all, ourselves.”
The “We Care” project came as a breakthrough providing
for the emotional needs of children and young adults
going through the psychological turmoil of the violence
that pervades their lives. “We are the “children of the
stones” as the media calls us but we are not made of
stone! We have broken hearts and misty eyes (not
necessary from tear gas!). Our loved ones are missing
and our families are torn apart. The shelling of our
cities, villages and camps left deep scars but not only
on the crumbling walls,” were the words of some young
Palestinians.
With the help of UNICEF, a group of Palestinian
ministries and NGOs decided to bring some happiness into
the hearts of Palestinian children on the occasion of
the Palestinian Childs day, 5th of April. Under the logo
“We want our childhood”, PYALARAs young members
designed, worked on and presented special TV episodes
for children that were broadcasted throughout April.
According to Hania Bitar, the message was clear: “In
order to survive, persevere and preserve the quality of
our lives, we need to allow a space for laughter, for
childhood and for innocence.”
The State of Worlds Children 2002
LEADERSHIP
UNICEF |
