By: Lucie, Belgium

I’m Lucie from Belgium, a volunteer participant of Zajel September Camp 2019. I have just come back from travel and a lot of things are mixed in my head: joy, sadness, disappointment, hope, … what I really liked in this trip was the diversity: meeting with students, activists, locals but also visiting the university, NGOs, holy places and several cities. We also did a lot of activities: meditation, conferences, wedding, night in the desert, … This allow to have an entire cultural vision of Palestine and understand the human and political issues. I think it’s important to remember how physically and mentally exhausting this trip is. It is therefore important to know that we will be destabilized. I’m happy because that’s what I wanted! I thank the locals but especially Maha and Alaa, who are extremely present. They helped me a lot and allowed me to stay upright. I really do not regret having made this trip and everything was very well. the volunteers could accompany a university professor or something like that. The Palestinian people and local volunteers are very kind and always try to make our stay as easy and as fun as possible.

Many tell us their story, so I thank them for letting us go in their privacy. I really have no regrets for this trip, I learned a lot about the country but also about myself and the others: we cannot judge a country, people or a situation without having seen with our own eyes. It also showed me that nothing has ever been gained and that “everyone is not like me”, each volunteer has experienced the journey in a different way and has been more or less affected. I really liked Palestine and the university, I hope to return in few years to study Arabic, I think this trip changed me and it made me want to continue working hard for my studies and then continue to travel and try to make the world a lot better. Thank you very much, this trip has changed my life, I will never forget it.