Judy Petersen, Book Drive Organizer
for Har Shalom Synagogue, Fort Collins, Colorado
visits Bueina-Nujidaat

  A good portion of the books collected by Har Shalom Synagogue's religious school two years ago went to the Buena Nujidaat Junior High School and the Alnajach Elementary School. Buena Nujidaat is a Bedouin and Arab Farmer joint village in the northern Galilee. The schools there have been making an unprecedented effort to raise literacy levels in general and help bring English language literacy to the community. Educators are also involved in a decisive attempt to
help expand the children's concept of women's rights, of their membership in the Israeli community, and of the need for them to take the choice to improve their lives and create peace in Israel. A better life is possible by working together and taking responsibility for our own - and one another's - future.

A letter from Judy Petersen reports on her visit to Bueina-Nujidaat:

On my recent trip to Israel, June-July 2004, I decided to visit the Buena Nujidaat Flagship where my synagogue, Har Shalom, has been sending books, educational posters, and other materials.
It was my good fortune to meet with Ilan and Jade Bar-Shalom, the Israeli Coordinators for the Books
for Israel Project. Jade, Ilan, and their three children hosted me at their home. The day before my visit
to Bueina-Nujidaat, Ilan took me on a tour of old Acre, the ancient Pisantian port, and ancient religious buildings in that area.

The following day, Ilan drove me to Buena Nujidaat where I met with the English teachers and administrative staff of both schools who had received books from our drive. The children of these schools greeted me with thank you cards, speeches and songs (all in English, of course!).

In the junior high school, I was shown the reading room that the community built to house the books and provide an Oriental- style reading environment for the children. After visiting the Alnajach elementary school, I was honored with a traditional Oriental meal at the home of Mahmud Slieman, the school principal of Alnaja Elementary School. We were joined by the English teaching and administrative staff of both schools and before the evening was over, even Mr. Salich Slieman, the town's mayor, came to meet me
and join us. As a gift to the community, I presented the Junior High School principal, Dr. Fukra, with a digital camera -- a present from Har Shalom synagogue and the religious school. The schools will be making use of this camera to help build up an on-line museum of local customs, heritage, and comparisons of old and new farming and manufacturing technology.

Following this intense visit to Buena, Ilan, Dr. Fukra and Widad Slieman, the flagship coordinator for Buena Nujidaat, took me on a tour of Nazareth. Altogether it was quite a day and one that I will never forget.

After returning home to Fort Collins, Colorado, I showed my pictures of the reading room to a friend who had donated books. She remarked how awesome it was to see that the books she had donated were being read by children half way around the world!
 		  

On the roof of the Buena Nujidaat Junior High School building, where one can see the entire view of the Albatoff Valley. From left to right: Dr. Muhamed Fukra, school principal of the Junior High, Ms. Judy Petersen of Har Shalom Synagogue, the flagship coordinator for Buena Nujidaat - Ms. Widad Slieman, Widad's co-English teacher at the junior high school, Ms. Sajida Nabulsi, and, at the far right,
Mr. Shafa Nujidaat, the Municipal Head of the Local Department of Education.
 

Judy Petersen is given a tour of the newly built temporary English room.
On the back wall, behind Judy, Widad, Sajida, and Dr. Fukra,
 are educational posters that Judy collected from teachers in the Fort Collins area.
 Actually, posters now cover the walls in the new, permanent
English room, only set up a few months after Judy's visit.
All of these posters from Fort Collins serve as a reminder of Judy's
highly appreciated visit.,
.

In the Junior High school English room, a traditional hosting area decked with floor cushions, makes a decisive break with the typical stern rows of desks and chairs. The English room set up resembles the kind of furnishings that most of these children of Bedouins and Arab Farmers have in their living rooms and presents the concept of being at home in a library. This design, first proposed by Ilan Bar-Shalom of B4I and then carried out entirely through volunteer labor and donations from the community, is a revolution of sorts in this sector. The relaxed setting reinforces the idea of reading for pleasure and free reading for choice. 
In this photo, students who are shown were those who volunteered
 to come in during their summer vacation to greet their special guest,
Judy Petersen.  Here the junior high school students greet her by singing English language songs of peace.
 

Judy Petersen was then taken to the Alnajach Elementary School, one of
three elementary schools in Buena Nujidaat.  This school's library was built upentirely from donated books sent by Har Shalom's book drive. Children and teachers at Alnajach Elementary had already established a relationship with Har-Shalom via e-mail and regular post. Here Judy Petersen gets to meet some of the children and staff with whom she had been in touch for over a year. In this photo, Judy formally greets the class shortly before children got up to read poems and thank you messages. Standing at the far left is Layal, an English teacher who was raised in America. Thanks to the materials now made available, Layal is significantly raising English language levels amongst her pupils
Standing at the far right is Sayid, the school's English staff coordinator.
In a speech before Judy Petersen, Sayid said that Books for Israel
and Har Shalom's adoption of their community gave him renewed hope
for education and peace just when he and others were ready to give up.
 

Judy sits amongst students in the elementary school who hold up some of
their favorite books.  The children did an excellent job reading these texts
aloud. They were very proud of their success and told Judy how much they
now enjoyed reading. Knowing that Judy Petersen was due to visit,
the children and staff had spent some two weeks working on thank you messages and speeches, brushing up on their reading and speaking skills.
The event was a great incentive for summertime learning!
 

Layal, seated at the far right, proudly looks on as her students pick up
books and read these texts and reading thank you cards aloud.
The students had composed these cards
and letters  in honor of this occasion.

Children jointly read a message of thanks for the wonderful books.
As a result of their reading and oral practice, the children spoke with
excellent fluency and good pronunciation.
 

A student presents a favorite story,  explains why she enjoyed the book
and why she has come to love the opportunity for free voluntary reading.

Each child prepared a message of his or her own. The package of all these
thank you cards, letters, trophies, and little prizes from the children were
presented to Judy to bring back to her community as a sign of
appreciation from the children of Buena Nujidaat.
.

More thank you cards read aloud by boys as well as girls. The event helped to
bring classmates together in an exciting end-of-year project.

Judy Petersen seated on a sofa with Layal at the home of Machmud Slieman,
school principal of the Alnajach Elementary School. Judy was hosted with
a traditional lunch which included countless courses followed by sweet
pastries and the traditional hot Turkish coffee. 
The event was much beyond Judy's expectations!

From right to left, Machmud Slieman, school principal of the elementary school, Widad Slieman, his sister, who is the central English teacher at the Junior High School, Machmud's daughter, who was one of the children who
presented Judy with presents and readings earlier in the day, and, at the far left, Dr. Muhamed Fukra, school principal of the Junior High School.