GlobalGiving.org: Send Youth to Build Bridges in the Middle East

A new generation of bridge builders

Cate Malek — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:07:54 GMT

Frisbee on the path

A deep thank you to everyone who contributed to send students from Colorado to walk Abraham's Path. This was the youngest group to ever walk the path, but also one of the most innovative. The students had no trouble connecting with communities, making the extra effort to bring Frisbees, jump ropes, cards and photos, which endeared them to the communities they visited during their trip. They walked with Palestinian students the same age and are now raising money to bring one of the students to visit them in Colorado. They're now working with the hip hop group, the Flobots to write slam poetry about their trip.

From one of the students:

What an amazing trip. We saw so many things, went so many places, met so many people, it was an incredible experience. All the days were packed with stuff to do. Now, is my time to fully absorb it and look back and try to completely understand everything we experienced. I'm still doing this, even after a week back home. I probably will always have something new to realize about this trip even when I'm old, with gray hair. Yesterday someone asked me how the trip was, then went on to ask me what my favorite part was. I thought about for a moment and realized there is just to much that could be a favorite part. Teaching people how to jump rope, teaching little kids how to throw a frisbee; meeting Shorouk, Shireen, and Beso while hiking the Abraham Path, the party they had, just for us, or staying in the Kibbutz. Actually now as I'm writing this, I think my favorite part was just meeting new people and hearing thier story. Much better than reading a text or watching a video. These were perspectives of induvidual people straight from those people. I think that is what I will take away and remember the most vividly, years after this experience. It truly was life-changing.

Even the teachers joined in jumping rope

Cards on the Masar

Flying

Countdown to the summer youth walk

Cate Malek — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 18:14:47 GMT

Dear Donors,

Soon our team will announce their dates for their international summer youth walk focused on university students from around the world ages 18-30. As details are confirmed, we will announce the launch of the trip. Your support in making this event possible is deeply appreciated by our entire team.

We also have launched a new campaign to support a group of US middle school students on a journey of exchange and encounter in Palestine and Israel. These students have been preparing for this trip throughout the school year, and we would like to introduce you to them. Please stay tuned for individual photos and stories of the trip. We are very excited by the momentum they have generated around their trip.

Thank you again for your support!

Thank you for your donations!

Cate Malek — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:54:01 GMT

We at the Abraham Path Initiative would like to give a heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped us to complete the Global Giving challenge. We're very excited to be part of the Global Giving website, and plan to post more projects in the coming weeks. We were blown away by the generosity of all of our donors. One supporter even offered to put this project on his wedding registry. Thanks to all of our donors for your incredible support. We are in the planning phase of our youth walk, and we will update you as we get closer to implementing the project. The funding we have received so far will provide a solid foundation for the project, helping to offset the costs for international participants, and revitalize communities along the Abraham Path. We appreciate any donor feedback on our campaign or on the project itself.