Rotary Log: July 26, 2012 (Language Immersion Project)

The meeting was called to order by President Nancy Notis.  There were many guests on hand to participate in our program, including Ryan Sullivan, who was proudly introduced by his dad, Rotarian Mark Sullivan.  Sam Rush kicked off the program.  She is one of two U.S. site managers for the Friend’s Forever life raft program, along with Scott Partan.  While many on the Seacoast have heard about the mission and work of Friends Forever in Northern Ireland and the Middle East, Sam and Scott were here to talk about a new program piloted this spring, the Language Immersion Project.

Three hundred and fifty Israeli students in grades 1 through 6 at the Al Alharabaa Elementary School, in Ein Mahel, Israel, worked with 6 U.S. volunteers, 2 Friends Forever staff and 15 Israeli instructors for the 3 week program.  How does this new program relate to the Friends Forever mission?  The focus of this program is to increase the involvement and awareness of US volunteers by bringing them to Israel, while creating a program aimed at improving the English of students in the area.  In order to be selected for the Friends Forever program, young participants need to speak English. 

As a young girl, Malak was determined to participate in the cultural exchange.  She realized her English was not good enough, so her parents hired an English tutor to be able to improve her English.  Now age 15, Malak realized her dream when she travelled to the US with Friends Forever this summer.  While in Israel working with younger students this spring, the Friends Forever trained staff is able to identify strong future leaders and plant the seeds for future participants.  The role of English in the peace process cannot be over-stated, as a neutral language in the political process between two cultures and also as a life skill that offers more educational and political opportunities for the students. 

One volunteer instructor we heard from was Mike McGowan, a 19 year old from Connecticut who was introduced to the program by his friend Sean Hanczor, who heard about it through his uncle, a Falmouth Rotarian.   Mike jumped at the opportunity to be involved in the first year of this exciting new program, but admitted he didn't know much about the conflict before he went.  Naomi Kaplan, a 25 year old teacher from Portsmouth, NH, was also a volunteer and felt that the education into the region the program afforded was invaluable to the volunteers.   Sean saw it as a once in a lifetime opportunity.  His favorite part was meeting the host families and connecting with other cultures in a way you never could if you didn't travel to that country.

 Scott and Sam saw it as an opportunity to meet the life raft delegates before their trip to the US this summer, and to develop a relationship with the Israeli side of the life raft program.  They observed that Arab culture in that area is very conservative and strict, and obviously breaking down barriers of thousands of years is very difficult.   While often parents they met had pretty defined and very straight views, kids have the chance to learn without these barriers, and to develop friendships. Those kids can influence their parents.  They viewed the teachers as celebrities, and they have no doubt that their presence made a lasting impression on them.

 This program will be taking place in the future, hopefully twice a year.  For more information on how you or someone you know can become a volunteer for the Language Immersion Project, call Executive Director Steve Martineau at 433-7607 or email him at smartineau@friendsforeverusa.org.