First Public Screening!

Tonight was the community screening at Ibdaa of the twelve digital stories made by youth in Dheisheh refugee camp and Aida refugee camp.

Over a hundred people filled Ibdaa's community hall on the third floor of the center. It was very powerful to see the stories projected onto a big screen and I think the young people were pleased to share their pieces. Afterwards, we had a reception upstairs in the Ibdaa restaurant and three of the participants interviewed audience members to get feedback and discuss the impact of their words.

I haven't done any of the post-production work so I hadn't seen the pieces for a few weeks. During the screening I was yet again amazed by their work - their words, music and images fit so well together and tell such personal and powerful stories. I'm really looking forward to bringing the pieces to US audiences and hearing people's responses.

Digital Storytelling in Dheisheh

I've been in Palestine now for a week though it feels much longer with my never-ending days. I'm at Ibdaa Cultural Center in Dheisheh refugee camp right now running a digital storytelling workshop with twelve youth from Ibdaa Center and Lajee Center in Aida refugee camp (also in Bethlehem).

There are six of us from the US working together with staff and volunteers from the centers on facilitating the workshop and it's still exhausting! We are packing so much into this week-long project but it's working out well. Tomorrow is our last day and I'm confident they'll all have something powerful to share (or to keep private if they choose) by the end of the day.

It's been interesting for me to be working directly with youth while in Palestine. I'm usually doing administrative work here and I'm enjoying spending lots of time with young people. Two of the participants are also members of the Ibdaa Dance Troupe who I spent a month with for their November 2005 tour so it's great to be with them again and continue getting to know them.

In any case, it's 1am and I need to get to bed so I will be ready for the workshop to begin again at 9am. So, here are some photos and I'll try to write again soon.

Playing "pass the penny" icebreaker in the Ibdaa computer lab

One participant sharing her life map before starting to write her story