Programs
Children & Youth
Children Teaching Children
A unique project that has earned awards in Israel and abroad, Children Teaching Children serves as an international model for dialogue between groups in conflict. Jewish and Arab teachers and middle school-age students are guided in grappling with complex issues of national and individual identity, community life, and conflicting narratives in a shared land. Discussions and activities take place in both indoor and outdoor settings.
Face to Face
Some one thousand Jewish and Arab Israeli high school students met for two-day seminars of mediated encounter and dialogue in 2005. The sessions are designed to break through barriers of preconception, mistrust, and misunderstanding, as well as to impart skills for open discussion of the Jewish-Arab conflict. The program consists of preparatory meetings with 10th-12th graders and Givat Haviva facilitators in their separate classrooms, in which the young people's expectations, hopes and fears of the bi-national encounter are raised and discussed. They then met their peers for a 2- or 3-day workshop on the Givat Haviva campus.
To ensure that the program matures, as well as to meet plans to welcome over 3500 participants in the coming year, materials are being updated, additional facilitators are being recruited and trained, and a more intense marketing plan is being launched in Jewish and Arab high schools.
Student Councils
In its third year, this project aims to raise the awareness of youth to social problems within their communities and to strengthen their commitment to responsible leadership. The youngsters explore the meaning of grass-roots democracy and the challenges of coexistence, and learn practical leadership and communication skills. Groups from twelve schools are participating this year from the northern and Triangle regions.
"Through Others' Eyes" Photography Project
As part of their photography program at Givat Haviva's Art Centre, Jewish and Arab high school students are assigned to visit one another's homes and communities, and to photograph both the exterior and interior. The camera serves as the eye that helps them observe "the other" from a new angle. The teenagers' interactions have led to a deeper understanding of one another and to lasting friendships. The resulting "Through Others' Eyes" photography exhibit is mounted throughout Israel as well as abroad.