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Pistes of Peace for Palestine
Pistes of Peace for Palestine
Start date: Sep 1, 2015,
End date: Feb 28, 2017
PROJECT
FINISHED
« Pistes of Peace for Palestine » is a project aimed at encouraging solidarity and intercultural exchanges in the Palestinian territory, by means of hosting four volunteers in Human Supporters Association.
Indeed, the organisation “Pistes Solidaires Méditerranée”, which is the project applicant, wishes to increase partnerships and initiatives in the Mediterranean area. This maritime area has been the witness of numerous exchanges through the ages, that were commercial, cultural as well as human, and it acquired with the time its own identity. Today, as a consequence of this rich history, it has become an interdependent space, woven by complex links. One has to admit that the commercial and financial exchanges are the most facilitated by today’s politics, in spite of the human ones. Our approach results from the will to promote human exchanges and solidarity initiatives within the Mediterranean space. By promoting intercultural contact and by running sociocultural projects, we wish to disseminate values such as tolerance, solidarity and peace, and to develop a space made of peaceful and fruitful exchanges.
The «Pistes of Peace for Palestine » project carries out two main objectives: to empower youth, and to promote the values of peace, citizenship and solidarity in society. In the long-term, we wish to develop the involvement of youth towards an active citizenship, at the national and supranational level (in particular towards European citizenship).
In order to fulfill these objectives, the project will allow four young people to go on European Voluntary Service. These youth, from 18 to 30 years old, will be selected according to their interest and their motivation for the project. No previous competences are required, but we will pay attention to match the youth’s profile with the host organization’s expectations, as much as we can. Also, volunteers will be autonomous individuals, aware of the situation in Palestine, and ready to adapt to the context there.
The methodology adopted in this project is based on accompanying volunteers in their personal, social and professional development. During the selection process of the volunteers, we will particularly pay attention to the relevance of the EVS mission for the personal project of the youth: the mission will have to be linked with the professional project of the volunteer, or aimed at arising cross-cutting competences, useful for his social integration. Once the volunteer selected, he will be followed before and after the volunteering mission. We will set up preparation to departure meetings, which will include an in-depth intercultural preparation. While volunteering, the youth will be followed up by an external and an internal tutor. When coming back, the volunteer will be accompanied in the process of empowering and re-using the competences gained.
To conclude, this project will have a significant impact on the volunteer’s personal development. They will learn numerous competences and knowledge, in particular on the political situation in Palestine, but also on more general domains (initiative, linguistic skills, interculturality, etc.).
But this project also aims at a larger impact, on the geographic and temporal scale. During their missions, the cultural difference of the volunteers will be an asset, considered as an opportunity to open up the intercultural dialogue. This initiative will have a significant impact on the long-term, in particular towards the young generations. Then, thanks to their European Volunteering Service, the youth will bear a strong European and intercultural experience, and will develop a bunch of values precious for our society, such as solidarity, tolerance or education. They will be able to introduce themselves as ambassadors of European citizenship during interventions or events at local level, once they go back to their countries, and will be able to run projects in which these values will be represented and disseminated.