The Office

I am getting more settled in my work here at Wi'am. In just a few minutes I will help lead a time of staff devotion and reflection. I am excited about this time because we will be discussing service and peace - how the two are connected in our relationships with one another and in our work.

I really enjoy the people in the office. Sawsan sits across from me. She is about my age, is married and has two adorable children. She loves to laugh and she does research and some writing here for Wi'am. Elisabeth is in the room next to me. She is another intern and she is from Mexico originally. She is a Master's student in Peace Studies at Notre Dame, and is just a bundle of energy - we have a great time together. Adnan, Salibe and Usama are in the next room. They help facilitate Sulha (reconciliation) cases. Usama also works with the computers and has been very helpful in showing me around. We are hopeful of purchasing a guitar soon so that we can teach some of the young people. Lucy and Imad are in the back room. Lucy is also about my age - she does some of the administrative work and research. She is also working on her Masters in Conflict Mediation at Bir Zeit University in Ramallah. Imad does research and helps with Sulha cases. He speaks English very well and handles a lot of the communication that takes place in English. Eva is from Germany and she is working with a project funded by the German government. She does training for young adults here in Bethlehem who are interested in learning more about conflict mediation. She also belly dances and is giving us some highly entertaining lessons. And then there is Zoughbi, the Director of Wi'am. He seems to do a little bit of everything. He is also on the City Council in Bethlehem so he is very bus!

All in all, I am extremely happy here. The people have been so welcoming and wondeful. I was even able to sit in on a Sulha yesterday. I will rwrite about that next!

For now, may Christ's servant heart fill you with His peace today,
Ashley