CADFA Winter Olympics was one of a
series of exchanges organised by Camden Abu Dis Friendship Association with Dar
Assadaqa, Abu Dis. In January 2014, Palestinian
university students travelled to the UK for ten days of activities with
students from the UK. The plan was to bring sixteen students (eight from Gaza
and eight from the West Bank) to work with sixteen students from the UK – half
of the group being women and half of them men. The aim was to support student
twinning initiatives by creating an opportunity for university students from
Britain and Palestine to meet, learn about each other’s lives and take part in
joint activity. This cultural exchange
focused on sports.
Before the exchange the students
in Palestine and in Britain each planned a special day of activities focusing
on university students’ lives in their own country. They prepared pictures and
presentations, food, joint activity and entertainment to show the other group
as part of a residential programme. The Gaza group also prepared, as we all
expected them to travel. As the political climate made it look less easy, we
mounted a campaign to try to get them to travel but unfortunately this was not
possible.
The beginning part of the visit
was dominated by the difficulty and in the end sadly the impossibility of the
Gazan group leaving Gaza and joining the exchange. The first day or two of the
exchange was taken up with anticipation of the Gazans’ visit, hope, and in the
end, disappointment because, although equipped with visas and ready to come,
they were unable to travel through the border at Rafah into Egypt or get to the
UK for this project. We were able to include an extra participant of
Palestinian origin who had just moved to Britain and an extra leader to help
the Palestinian group.
At the beginning of the exchange
visit, the group stayed together in an outdoor centre in the Peak District. The first two days were the 'British Day' and
'Palestinian Day' that the groups had previously organised. There were outdoor
activities and sports as well as indoor discussions and activities. Students
looked at the products of previous CADFA student exchanges and discussed
student twinning. On the third day, students travelled in small groups to
different northern universities, where they
met more students, took part in sporting activities and were able to do
a first comparison of the university life in both countries. Before they left
the Peak District, they reviewed what they had learned and prepared for the
main part of the project.
They then travelled to London
where they met students from a number of universities that had been involved in
our previous visits. They visited different
campuses and learned about students’ lives and visited London’s tourist
attractions and the Emirates Stadium. Each day they had the opportunity to play sport together, with a
different sport on each day and in each place. The final events of our ‘CADFA
Winter Olympics’ were a day in a local sports centre dedicated to sport and a
football tournament on the last day, which also included a student twinning
workshop (open to others) at University College London and a celebration of the
project including food, presentations and thanks to everyone involved.
Students made plans to organise feedback events
at their own universities. Pictures and video of the project were gathered at
the events and put on a blog. The
activities of this visit and new links made will strengthen the connections
between student unions in Palestine and Britain and contribute to the next
visit (funded by Erasmus+) in early 2015.
