International Summer Work Camp 2017 kicks off in campus

International volunteers from around the world, along with Birzeit University students, began the International Summer Work Camp on August 2, 2017. The camp is organized by the Deanship of Students Affairs.

Volunteers from Turkey, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Japan, Moldova and Portugal are participating in the two-week camp. The participants will learn and live together and build long-lasting friendships. The camp aims at exchanging cultures, introducing the Palestinian cause, and reinforcing the Palestinian core values of caring, respect, peace, and acceptance of the other.

Dean of Student Affairs Mohammad Al-Ahmad, the Vice President for Financial and Administrative Affairs Rania Jaber, and the Voluntary Work Coordinator Ghada Al Omari, attended the opening ceremony.

Jaber said that the International Summer Work Camp is a unique opportunity for cultural exchange, empowering the spirit of volunteering and communication within the participants. This camp, according to Jaber, welcomes all who seeks to foster international understanding through the organized camp experience.

Al-Ahmad assured that the work camp, organized annually every year since 1981, emphasizes the significance of welcoming volunteers from all around the world to Palestine to enlighten them about the reality in which Palestinians are living and brings together university students and international volunteers to instill a volunteer mindset. 

Al Omari provided details about the camp, saying that it is planned to last for two weeks and includes trips to cities and villages to learn about the Palestinian heritage. The volunteers, she added, will meet Palestinian figures, hold lectures, seminars, and complete voluntary tasks.