D-11 The training goes on at Al-Mahawer

The training is definitely not as easy in Al-Mahawer, as we have some new children coming everyday !

So, we have some children quite advanced and some who are just starting...
Luckily, the future trainer, Ahmede that I am also teaching is playing already a little bit, and can help me with the newbies :)

It keeps annoying me but all the team games have been won by the boys !

D-10 Hebron city centre

Today, after the class, Manar took me to the old city and the city centre of Hebron.

To get to the old city, we had to go through 2 check points, and Manar was not really comfortable with it. The "chance" he has in this complicated situation is his European looking face combined with a perfect English (plus a true European girl by his side!). So he just plays the tourist as they don't ask for the passport...
When getting face to face with setlers, all the palestinians look at their feet though.

The old city is beautiful and full of shops... At every corner, a man was shouting to me "Welcome to Palestine!"

It was really nice to see another part of the city! The city centre is messy and dusty as I like it :)

Another thing is that people are driving like Crazy! There are no red lights, cars are going very very fast and with nobody wearing a belt of course. People are walking in the middle of the streets (Manar was doing the same and I was not feeling really safe!).

On the way back, I bought some vegetables and cooked a french quiche ... Hmm, it was so nice to eat something from back home :) Don't get me wrong, I like a lot the food here, but I am a bit sick of falafel and hommus for breakfast !

D-9 and 10 in Al-Mahawer

On the first day, I did not get the chance to speak too much with the manager of the centre, so he absolutely wanted us to meet and talk yesterday in his office. He expressed a lot his gratitude for my presence in his centre, and repeated many times that I was here at home, and could ask whatever I wanted. Arabic people are always very welcoming.

In this centre, we have some more teenagers; in fact, the class is open to children from 12 to 15 but in Shira, they were all around 12-13. The teenagers are not as easy to teach, but we are doing our best, my translator Manar and I :)

When they play individually, the boys can be quite aggressive between each other, so I try to make some team work as much as possible. As a team, they get along better.

As the level is a bit more advanced, we are doing exercises with check-mates in 2 moves, and learning also how to win some common finals of games: they come to the board and play one move each which forced them to think all together.

There are some talented girls in the team: they understand everything new faster that the others, and have a good global image of the board, whereas the others are mostly stuck looking at only one side.
However, yesterday and today, in the team game, the boys won ! (again and again!).

They got also their project t-shirt. I think it is really important for them to be included in this project and to wear them. In the street, I met two moms with my students, and they were thanking me for coming here and teaching them, as during this time they are not in the streets and they do something constructive.

D-9 The life in Hebron...

My new family does not live exactly in the centre of Hebron but a bit further, which makes the place not as safe.
Every night, I spend a couple of hours with Samir's wife (Samir is the manager of Al-Mahawer youth centre), helping her in her daily job. She prepares about 250 snacks for a few schools everyday. It is actually a job opportunity given by Al-Mahawer for the women to work as well: they are giving them the choice between several formations (cooking, sewing, creating jewelleries etc). On the picture, you can see some sweets we prepared together.

 

We take advantage of this time together to chat. She explained me Hebron is a closed minded city compared to Bethlehem for instance. She does not want to wear her headscarf, but if she doesn't do so, she'd be insulted in the streets.

She told me that quite often, once or twice a month, some Israeli come to the neighbourhood... She showed me a couple of videos of them actually throwing rocks at their buildings, and yelling "We are all going to kill you, you Arabic people"... They can come at any time of the day, and during this time, nobody moves ! I met her nephew, who received a bullet in his leg, for no reason, while he was inside his building, at the entrance. He now has some difficulties to walk.

Here is a picture taken in front of the building...

She showed me another video of her son, Soudehm (5 years old and so cute) seeing some Palestinian soldiers through the window. He is yelling "I am a man, I am not afraid of these soldiers, I will fight for my family!" :) Then, he is going to the door, and a soldier happened to be entering a the same time. Soudhem instantly starts crying "please don't shoot me, please don't shoot me!".

It is very strange to see a little boy of only 5 years old with this type of reaction.

D-8 Starting at Al-Mahawer in Hebron

This afternoon, we started our chess activities in the youth centre Al-Mahawer, when the children got back from school. Yes, a Sunday :) Their free days are actually Friday and Saturday.

I got a new translator who speaks very good English, and we brought all the chess boards, so we were ready. My translator plays a little bit already, and told me that in Arabic, the queen is not called the queen but something like the assistant of the King !!! It tells a lot about their society !

After a quick check-up, I was quite impressed by their level already as I realised almost all the kids were already knowing the position of the starting game, the figures' names and their way of moving. 

So this week will definitely not be similar as last week, as we will be going forward into some more complicated exercises and situations.

One of the animator at the centre was saying he was really good and absolutely wanted to play against me to beat me. It was very funny as I won very easily 6 or 7 times and all the kids (mostly girls) were around the table laughing... Our main target is the feminine population, so it was really a good example for them to see me winning against a man... They were impressed and it motivated them !

D-7 My new family in Hebron

Yesterday afternoon, I have been relocated to Hebron, where I will be giving my second week of chess training in another centre.

When arriving in the neighbourhood of my new family, I felt quite "impressed" by the situation: there are no proper streets, the place is full of junks, and kids are playing in the middle of it.

I felt better when entering the building as the flat was clean and the family is really nice.

They have 3 kids of 14, 12 and 5 years old, and I like them a lot already: they look very happy and full of energy.

The mom and dad are actually cousins (first degree cousins!)... and got married when she was 15 and he was 27... Once again, a cultural shock ...

The mom speaks a bit english and we had some interesting conversation. I explained her that a marriage between cousins is legal in my country but very rare and she was having a hard time understanding why.

Her oldest son is quite sick though, he has some real sight issues.

D-7 Emmanuel Monastery

Yesterday was my first day off this week so I decided to go visit my husband Timothee's cousin, Laure in her monastery. She has been living there for 10 years already and is really happy.
The monastery is located just in front of the wall between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, near by a check-point.
Laure, in her 10 years spent there, has learnt a lot and lived some very difficult situations; however, she would not like to be anywhere else, as she feels her and her sister's support is really important for the population.
The monastery is a very peaceful place, simple but beautiful, and as soon as you enter, you feel very welcomed.