BREAKING THE ICE

PROJECTS FULL OF IDEAS

For the sixth consecutive year, Coexistences invited a group of students from the University of Haifa to walk in our Alps.

As usual, the composition was balanced: six Jews (three girls, three boys) and five Arabs (three girls, two boys). The ages ranged from 23 to 30 years old. Among the Arabs, the two boys were Druze, one Christian girl and two Muslim girls. One participant, a Muslim, was unable to attend at the last minute for reasons beyond his control. As last year, the dynamics of the group were provided by Olfat Haider and Asaf Ron. As a reminder, the latter is, in Haifa, the director of Beit Hagefen, the institution where Olfat works. Both of them, in collaboration with the University, were in charge of the recruitment and preparation of the group in Israel, a process that began last March, marked in particular by four weekends spent together camping in the Galilee countryside.
Nadja Schmid, a mid-mountain guide, guided us throughout the journey. Compared to other years, the relationships within the group were particularly warm and consensual, with everyone showing great empathy for each other. Clearly, the preparatory work in Israel had been well done.

For more detailed information on the project, read Newsletter No. 23