Meet the 2013-2014 Alt. Break Israel Participants!

We are excited to share with you our great group of participants. We seriously could not have asked for a better group of active citizens (you all rule!).

Name: Aimal Ahmadzai
Hometown: Centreville, VA
Area of Study: MBA, International Emerging Markets

Aimal Ahmadzai is a 2nd year MBA candidate at American University. Aimal is focusing on international business and development in emerging markets, with a special concentration on anti-corruption and transparency. Before joining the MBA program, he worked for several years as a management consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton and the Federal Aviation Administration. This past summer, Aimal served abroad as a Political/Economic section intern at the US Embassy in Tajikistan, participating in meetings with the local government on the topics of trafficking, foreign direct investment, and non-proliferation. Aimal also worked through the UNHCR to teach English to Afghan refugees in Tajikistan and hopes to continue helping refugees on this trip to Israel.

Name: Jessie Block
Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA
Area of Study: International Relations with a minor in education

I am a sophomore at American University, interested in service in all forms. My major is International Relations with a minor in education and the Middle East is my passion. I’m a member of Alpha Phi Omega, the national service fraternity on campus, and every summer I volunteer at the Children’s Village, an alternative approach to foster care, in Karmiel, Israel. I love languages, reading, writing, and travelling. I also have five dogs! I’m looking forward to travelling to Israel with this incredible and diverse group of people to serve and learn more about the refugee and asylum seeker community there.

Name: Emily Bird
Hometown: Cincinnati, OH
Major of Study: Graduate Student in the International Training and Education Program

Emily is a first year CAS graduate student working in international development. She spent her undergraduate years at AU as well, in the School of International Service. Emily served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Niger where she worked in a rural community on education and municipal development projects. She has since spent time teaching middle school and adult students in DC, and working on international development programming. Having studied conflict resolution as an undergraduate student, she is interested in exploring education in conflict and refugee situations.

Name: Jes Walton
Hometown: Salida, CO
Area of Study: Second year, dual master's degree: SIS (MA International Affairs) and UN Mandated University for Peace (MA Natural Resources and Sustainable Development); concentration in Food and Agriculture

Jes enjoys working with people and their environments. She has conducted thesis research in Tanzania, completed a Peace Corps service in Gambia and visited many West and North African nations. Jes will build upon these experiences by exploring why African refugees are forced to leave their homes and the challenges they face abroad. While in Israel, she is interested in understanding how refugees access culturally appropriate and nutritious foods and maintain important traditions around eating. Is there potential for peace building and integration through this common human experience? She also hopes to learn about the governmental programs and nongovernmental organizations that support these basic needs. She looks forward to sharing good food and exciting educational opportunities with her fellow American University students and creating lasting relationships with future friends in Israel.

Name: Rebecca Gustine (Becca)
Hometown: East Hampton, CT
Major: Public Health (BA) w/ Applied Physics and International Business minors

I am 19 years old and from a small town in Connecticut. I have an older brother who is 21 years old and goes to school in Boston. I grew up on my family’s Campground (Nelson’s Family Campground) so I am an outdoorsy person. And I play soccer and basketball and do various other seasonal outdoor sports.

I have worked at the campground since I was 14, along with working at a regional high school the town over from me. At RHAM I worked primarily with students with special needs and completed a 120-hour internship with them. I have a passion for working with people who have learning and developmental delays and hope to continue that.

 

Name: Karen Flores Garcia
Hometown: Denver, CO
Area of Study: Graduate Student in the Ethics, Peace, and Global Affairs Program

My name is Karen Flores Garcia, I am a second-year graduate student at the American University’s School of International Service. I will obtain a Master’s degree with the Ethics, Peace, & Global Affairs program with a focus on human rights. I was born and raised in Colorado where I also obtained my Bachelor’s from the University of Colorado, Boulder; majoring in International Affairs and Italian. I am a first-generation student with roots from Mexico. As such I am interested in a variety of issues concerning human rights, primarily human trafficking, migration, women’s issues, and child labor rights. I currently form part of the leadership for the Society for Ethics, Peace, & Global Affairs which also promotes awareness in human rights and advocates for change in a range of issues, while maintaining ethical and philosophical perspectives in mind. As well as the AU Student Human Rights Collaboration Committee, a student committee designed to coordinate all human rights event on campus and foster collaboration among students, faculty, and staff. During my free time, I enjoy reading and always attempting to further my knowledge on a variety of issues, as well painting and relaxing with movies.

Name: Kylen Button
Hometown: Culpeper, VA
Area of Study: International Studies and Philosophy

Hi! My name is Kylen and I am so excited to be a part of the alternate break in Israel this winter! I am from a teeny-tiny town in Virginia called Culpeper. This is my second year in college, but first year at American! (I just transferred here this fall) I am studying International Studies and Philosophy, and hope to work for nonprofit organizations (hopefully organizations that help those who have been human trafficked) in predominately Buddhist practicing populations in Asia.

Name: Sarah Schmidt
Hometown: Mansfield, OH

Area of Study: Graduate Student in the Ethics, Peace, and Global Affairs Program

I am originally from a town in Central Ohio called Mansfield. I studied Literature and Religious Studies at Ohio State University and graduated in 2011. During my undergraduate years I coached swimming and coordinated two swim lessons programs. From 2010 until 2013 I worked for the Admissions Department at OSU. Some of my responsibilities included recruiting students, coordinating visit days, supervising several student organizations, and assisting with the Haiti Empowerment Project—a service learning initiative through the education department. After finding the School of International Service at American University I decided to leave higher education and pursue a Masters in Ethics, Peace, and Global Affairs. I am also part of the Masters International program which will allow me to do 27 months with the Peace Corps between my two years of graduate coursework. Outside of schoolwork, I enjoy hiking, walking, and running with my dog, Milton.

This alternative break trip interested me because I have been involved in service learning initiatives at Ohio State and I also love to travel and experience cultures. Between leisure and professional work I have had the opportunity to visit 19 countries. Much of my leisurely travel has been with my Mom; she definitely instilled the travel bug in me at a young age. The longest experience I have had outside of the US was in Kenya in 2009. I was involved in education and community development in a rural area of the Rift Valley region. Through foreign language study and my stay in Kenya, I am efficient in Swahili. I’m looking forward to learning about Israel and experiencing the culture, as well as, working with African refugees and learning about their unique experience taking asylum in Israel.

Name: Bersabell Yeshitla
Hometown: Cambridge, MA
Area of Study: School of International Service majoring in International Studies with a focus in Africa and a minor in Public Administration and Policy

My name is Bersabell Yeshitla. I'm an Ethiopian American from Cambridge Massachusetts. I'm a sophomore in the School of International Service majoring in International Studies with a focus in Africa and a minor in Public Administration and Policy. I tutor kids in the DC Public Schools system as a DC Reads Team Leader. I am also a School of International Service Mentor for the Gateway Program. I love photography, movies, music, food, traveling, and trying new things. I can't wait to go to Israel to further my education and gain unforgettable life experiences. I look forward to learning tons more about African Refugees, working with their communities, and raising awareness about the issues they are faced with when I return.

Name: Hurubie Meko
Hometown: Lancaster, PA
Area of Study: School of Communication's Print Journalism Program and International Relations

My name is Hurubie Meko and I'm from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I am currently a sophomore at American University. I am in the School of Communication's Print Journalism program and hope to double major in International Relations.

I was born and raised in Ethiopia and moved to the US at the age of 7. Because of my early travels between different places and people, I have always been interested in cultures. Also, I absolutely love traveling. However, my interest in different cultures is what makes me interested in journalism. The idea of going all over the world and having the honor of telling the stories of people who are not heard, makes me excited for the future.

Name: Andréia Barcellos
Hometown: Medianeira, Brazil
Area of Study: International relations, MA International Peace and Conflict Resolution

In my life, I had the opportunity to live in different places, and meet people with unusual backgrounds, cultures and stories. This becomes my passion: travel, meet people and appreciate cultures. Also, following my parents’ example, I was often engaged in volunteering projects, which I always liked to do during my free time. Through college, I worked in an Organization that I was always in contact with people from other countries. I used to love doing it, and I learned a lot of how to deal with other cultures in a more professional environment. After graduate, I worked in Egypt for a while, and perceiving the consequences of a conflict in the society made me realize what I want to do in life: work in conflict areas, trying to help different parties to reach an agreement, and supporting the population who suffers with the violence. For this reason, I am currently living in Washington, pursuing my Master’s degree.

Name: Lucette Moran

Hometown: Cheshire, CT

Area of Study: Cross-Cultural Justice

Lucette Moran is a second-year student at American University studying Cross-Cultural Justice, a self-designed interdisciplinary program with the objective of combining international studies, law, and theatre studies. She has studied French and Arabic (MSA) and will be focusing her regional studies in the Middle East and North Africa. She is passionate about service, human rights and social justice, theatre, music, teaching, reading, and writing. One of her main life goals is to never stop learning. In the coming semester, Lucette will begin working as an intern at D.C. Stop Modern Slavery, an organization that consists of over 1,000 volunteers to fight the significant human trafficking issue in our nation’s capital. She looks forward to this trip to Israel as a whole, but she is particularly excited to work with children and help design a performing arts curriculum at the after school program.

Name: Illana M. Lancaster (Faculty Advisor)

Illana Lancaster is an Assistant Professor in the International Training and Education Program (ITEP) in the School for Education, Teaching, and Health (SETH) at American University in Washington, DC where she teaches and researches. Dr. Lancaster is a critical qualitative researcher interested in issues of equity, access, and gender with a regional focus on southern Africa and a contextual focus on the urban. Dr. Lancaster's teaching interests focus on cultivating critical global citizens to participate in the development of a more just and equitable world. With the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), Dr. Lancaster has trained more than 250 peacekeeping officers on conflict analysis, communication, negotiation and protection of civilians in conflict and post-conflict contexts through the African Contingency Operations Training and Assistance (ACOTA) program. Country battalions trained include Togo, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania. She holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia, a M.Ed. from The George Washington University, and a Ph.D. in International Education Policy from the University of Maryland at College Park. Dr. Lancaster resides in Washington, D.C.

Name: Heidi Bloom (Co-Trip Leader)
Hometown: Hartford, SD
Area of Study: Graduate student in the International Training and Education Program

Heidi Bloom is a second year graduate student in the International Training and Education Program (ITEP). She is on the international development track with a special interest in peace education. Heidi lived in Israel for five months, working at the African Refugee Development Center developing a mentor program for asylum-seeking children. She has been looking forward to working with this community once again and raising an awareness of the issue.

Name: Annelise Cohon  (Co-Trip Leader)
Hometown: Hackensack, NJ
Area of Study: Graduate Student in the International Training and Education Program

Annelise Cohon is a second year graduate student in the International Training and Education Program (ITEP). She is interested in international development and global health. Annelise spent a year in Israel as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar studying Peace and Conflict studies at the University of Haifa and working at the oldest grassroots feminist center in Israel, Isha’L’Isha. While in Israel, Annelise examined human trafficking and disability issues.

A Recap from our Service Day with Food For All DC!

This weekend was jam-packed with good stuff!

I'm not talking about the typical joy the weekend brings, but rather the fact that this weekend our Alt. Break group was able to volunteer with Food For All DC (FFADC) and pack grocery bags for low income home-bound residents in the DC area. As part of volunteering, individuals also volunteer to drive bags of food to each client's home in various neighborhoods of DC. FFADC client's are generally elderly citizens, handicapped, or single mothers with young children. Anyone can sign up to volunteer at FFADC almost every Saturday, weather-permitting and sans holidays. We had a great turnout for an early Saturday morning and the pictures below show that a good time was had by all.

The group formed a line and helped passing heavy bags of produce from the church's basement to outside.

(From Left to Right: Karen, Andreia, Becca and Kylen)

Sarah helps pass a heavy bag of food (including a rather large turkey) upstairs

The fruits of our labor are revealed! Look at those beautiful bags of food!

After packing the bags of food, the volunteers divided up into two different cars and started making deliveries all around DC. One half of the students rode with Heidi and the other half rode with me. We decided to make our deliveries caravan style, and went around to each location together. Heidi provided some delicious breakfast treats for the group to enjoy. By 12:45 pm we were back at AU for a quick lunch before a call with Yahel, the organization in Israel that is helping us to plan our Alt. Break trip itinerary. 

At 1:00 pm, we skyped with Moshik Lichtenstien, Director of the Yahel Insight Program. Moshik was able to speak with us more about Yahel and what we will be doing on the ground in Israel. Everyone had the opportunity to ask questions and appreciated Moshik's openness and humor. After speaking with him, I think everyone felt more excited about the trip and is looking forward to being in Israel with our host community.

Below is a great group picture of some of the students who were there for the afternoon: 

(From the top, left to right: Becca, Kylen, Sarah and Hurubie. 

From the bottom, left to right: Andreia, Aimal, Jessie and Bersabell)

We look forward to updating you more on our trip! 

Sarah's Reflection from Pre-Trip Meeting #2 on Service Learning vs. Voluntourism

The October 29 pre trip meeting focused on the subject of “voluntourism” or “poverty tourism”.  I was introduced to these terms a few years ago alongside Paulo Freire.  After studying Freire and applying his concepts to “voluntourism”, I became passionate about the destructive power that our actions can hold.  Many see the concepts behind voluntourism as a good thing—as did I, but after really analyzing the consequences of our actions on a large scale, it is clear that our impact goes beyond giving handouts to the poor.  When discussing Freire and voluntourism terms like, “oppressed”, “oppressor”, “charity”, etc are used frequently.  These terms can be met with a lot of connotations that may prevent us from a critical analysis of the greater impact and issues at hand.  So it is essential to come into these topics with an open mind, ready to analyze, think critically, and think out of the box.

There is a fine line between service learning and charity.  The crux of this divide is the latter part of the former term—learning.  However, this too can be a slippery slope of oppression.  I am going to analyze the dynamics of good and bad international service from a Freireian prospective.  If you are not familiar, Paulo Freire was an educator who raised some of the most monumental ideas in the field of education and service learning.  To encompass Freire in a page or two is impossible and I would highly recommend reading his book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed.  But for the purposes of this reflection I will attempt to give a short synopsis of Freire’s argument.

To start, Freire defines “oppression” and delves into what it means to be an oppressed person and what it means to be an oppressor.  What is difficult about these terms is the connotation they bring.  As an American, to hear the word oppressor, automatically brings about images of regimes, dictators, and violence.  Freire would agree, but he would also call many of our preconceptions, stereotypes, and systems as oppressive in nature.  This was difficult to understand and conceptualize at first, but as I read further into Freire’s argument it became abundantly clear.  There is an uneven dynamic in our world.  I don’t think anyone would deny that.  There are developed countries and developing countries, rich countries and poor countries, 1^st world and 3^rd world—few would argue that it is a “fair” world that we live in.  That statement may seem Hobbesian, but it’s true.  (I realize that there are those out there that take the stance that everyone has the opportunity to better themselves and that it is up to them to take the reigns of their life if they want to escape their current situation.  Despite the multiplicity of uninformed opinions that statement requires, it is also a capitalist, elitist, and privileged way of looking at the world and for the purposes of this argument, we are not going to go down that rabbit trail).  What Freire would argue is that western, northern, imperialistic thinking created this unfair system through oppression. 

Oppression can come in many different forms and those forms have changed throughout the centuries.  For starters we developed the system of rich and poor, developing and developed, and 1^st world and third world through imperialism and  colonization.  Because the imperializing countries took land by whatever means possible, conducted genocide, slavery, and the vast dehumanization of anyone that they saw as “other”, developed a North-South dynamic that is engrained in our subsequent cultures today.  This is tough, but the mere fact that I am typing this on a laptop for a graduate school reflection points to the fact that I am an oppressor.  Oppressive nature is so deeply rooted in our thinking that most will never realize it.  Now, obviously we are not conducting genocide, slavery, and imperialization anymore, but there is still a form of oppression that most would consider ‘non violent’.  Those of us who have studies IR theory see this oppression as structural violence. 

Violence according to Johan Galtung (who I would also highly recommend) is “present when human beings are being influenced so that their actual somatic and mental realizations are below their potential realizations”.  Freire would call this oppression: “any situation in which “A” objectively exploits “B” or hinders his and her pursuit of self-affirmation as a responsible person is one of oppression.  Such a situation in itself constitutes violence, even when sweetened by false generosity, because it interferes with the individuals ontological and historical vocation to be more fully human.  With the establishment of a relationship of oppression, violence has already begun.  Never in history has violence been initiated by the oppressed… violence is initiated by those who oppress, who exploit, who fail to recognize others as persons—not by those who are oppressed, exploited, and unrecognized.”  (55)  We use words like “poverty”, “hunger”, “racism”, “sexism”.  In the end, it is one in the same.  Whether we are forcing others down with guns and disease or keeping them in their plight by perpetuating a cycle that is nearly impossible to break, it all constitutes oppression and/or structural violence. 

Now you might be asking, ‘how am I an oppressor if I want to help people’?  Freire says, “as [we] cease to be exploiters or indifferent spectators or simply the heirs of exploitation and move to the side of the exploited, [we] almost always bring with [us] the marks of [our] origin: [our] prejudices and [our] deformations, which include a lack of confidence in the peoples ability to think, to want, and to know.”   Here are a few questions to reflect upon. They might help us all realize the extent to which this oppression is embedded in our culture and upbringing:

• Do you own a cell phone?

 Did you know that your cell phone contains elements that are mined by children in Africa where literacy rates are below 30%, the majority of children do not finish primary school (grade 4-6 depending on the region), and the life expectancy is around 50 years?

• When you see commercials on tv that show pictures of orphans and starving children do you feel compelled to “give 50 cents a day” or whatever the slogan is that they are using?

 First of all, the fact that we are watching commercials about starving children on tv is a sign of oppression.  Second of all, when we feel pity for the kids on the tv and feel compelled to give some incredible minimal amount of money to “make a difference”, it dehumanizes the person on that screen.  It automatically sets us up as the ones on top.  We are the saviors and they need saving.  They are “other” and a feeling of pity flushes over us because we are incapable of empathizing with their plight.  We’re incapable because compared to the rest of the world, we are filthy, filthy rich.  If you have a bed to sleep in under a stable roof and a refrigerator with food in it, we are rich.

• Do you buy your food in a grocery store?

Think about this for a minute.  We just looked at the idea of watching starving children on our television.  Now consider the fact that we walk into huge buildings with rows upon rows of food (and more in the back that we don’t see).

I think you catch my drift here.  I’m not saying that we are bad people, we aren’t.  In fact, I would argue that the majority of people who engage in poverty tourism actually have good intentions.  However, good intentions without critically thinking contributes nothing and again perpetuates an oppressive system.

Freire discussed revolutionary ideas that I wish I had more room to discuss; ideas like “banking education”, which basically means that teachers dump information onto students and students learn.  Sounds pretty basic right?  But Freire even sees that as oppressive.  He argues that education banking removes critical analysis, dialogue, and the exchange of ideas.  It is the latter terms which ultimately foster change.  Again, for the purposes of this reflection I will resist summarizing all of his insightful ideas and get to the point—what’s the difference between service learning and charity and how can we contribute to the greater goal of ending oppression and structural violence?

Charity sets up the dynamic of us and them and savior and victim.  Charity work is fostered from good intentions, but lacks a critical look at the real issues, ultimately making oppression worse.  When service is not sustainable, we oppress.  We oppress because there is no reciprocation.  Charity is the one sided exchange of tangible resources that perpetuate dependence and limit the ability and potential of those we serve.

Service learning is the exchange of ideas.  Critical thinking and analysis is essential to service learning.  A removal of tiers, stereotypes, and “banking” is absolutely vital if learning is to take place.  Dialogue is an intrinsic part to this process.  Without dialogue progress will halt.  At every stage of the process of liberation from oppression and structural violence, dialogue and critical thinking should be present.  WE ARE NOT THE EXECUTORS OF THE TRANSFORMATION.  Freire puts it more eloquently: “the correct method lies in dialogue…a revolutionary leadership must accordingly practice co-intentional education.  Teachers and students (leadership and people), co-intent on reality; are both subjects, not only in the task of unveiling that reality, and thereby coming to know it critically, but in the task of re-creating that knowledge.  As they attain this knowledge of reality through common reflection and action, they discover themselves as its permanent re-creators.  In this way, the presence of the oppressed in the struggle for their liberation will be what it should be:  not pseudo-participation, but committed involvement”.

We have an opportunity contribute to the process of liberation and to engage in reciprocal dialogue.  We have a chance to exchange ideas and to learn from each other.  The African refugees have a unique viewpoint and experience to bring to the table, as do the Israelis and Palestinians that we will encounter, which means we have multiple outlets and countless opportunities for learning and growth on this trip!