May 12, 2003

Marthame made his weekly way up to Ibillin for his course. It was the first time in a long time that his ride to Nazareth actually made it into the West Bank, meeting him in the middle of Jalame.

The students were restless tonight - it's their midterm exam, and they had tried to postpone after feeling unprepared. Marthame had stuck to his guns, much to their displeasure. We thought such concerns would end after high school, but apparently not.

Fr. Aktham at his principal desk.

In Zababdeh, the school had a visit from AmidEast. The representative was visiting schools in the Jenin area because of a student exchange program, hoping to find eligible high school students to go to the US for a year. The program sounds exciting, and we hope that some of our students may have the opportunity to participate in the program this year or in the future.

Also, we discussed the possibility of AmidEast giving some informational workshops in Zababdeh about opportunities to study abroad, college scholarships, language testing, etc.