November 26, 2001

An older student conducts an interview for the upcoming English Club newspaper

The English Club is slowly taking shape. We've scrapped several approaches to the Club, and have now ended up with a simplified newspaper. Abuna Aktham had asked that the students be interviewed about their hopes, wishes, dreams. The Club took to this with great excitement, and spread out around the school to conduct the interviews. For the older students, the interviews were done in English, and for the younger ones in Arabic. We're hopeful that the newspaper will begin to take shape and form - one of the students is ready to put it on-line!

We also got some disturbing news today about travel in this area. The road which leads north out of the West Bank has been blocked several times with large piles of dirt, and most recently the last open road (which goes by way of the University) had been blocked. Even so, it was still possible to get around by going throught the fields - when it doesn't rain heavily. In the last two days, though, the Israeli Army has installed another roadblock, this one a metal arm which extends across the road (and around which impassable trenches have been dug). This effectively closes the last road leading north out of Zababdeh.

Every basic freedom is limited here, and the blocking of the roads has felt more and more like a slow death, a strangulation. Looks like buying a car will have to wait...