During the days 2nd, 3rd and 4th of March 2017, we celebrated the first cultural encounter between The Imelda-Institute of Brussels and The Carmel High School of Haifa, which belongs to The Discalced Carmelite Order.
The purpose of this meeting was to teach these young students from both cities (Brussels-Haifa) about the participatory communication that could ease the dialogue among our multicultural societies. To accept and understand that there are various shapes of knowledge, cultivate and develop social values like the solidarity, the respect, the non-violence, the peace and the tolerance.
The methodology of the meetings consisted on the involvement of twelve students, (six Muslims and six Christians), from each school and educate them in the six keys of dialogue:
- 4All (For all) – Don´t exclude anyone
- Be the first – Take the first step
- 4Oneanother (For one another) – For each one
- Don´t surrender – Don´t give up
- Let´s jump – Every challenge is a possibility
- I´ll be there – Count on me
During their time at Haifa, the group stayed in our convent of Stella Maris, visited Isfya and our house of the Sacrifice (Muhraqa) where Fr. Julio Almansa kindly looked them after. The youngsters also met with the families of the kids and enjoyed of the delicious Arab food, as of the music and the dance. At Nazareth they were received by the Imam of the White Mosque of Nazareth, they celebrated a concert of religious music between Muslims and Christians. They will also have some days in Jerusalem and visit «Yad Vashem», among other places.
The Discalced Carmelites of the Delegation are thankful for the organization from Anna Karram, Fra. Fausto Spinelli and the valuable cooperation of some of our teachers as Doris Hawila (responsible of the project), Claudia Sader and Rami Nahhas, and also from Nadia Kattoura y Doris Swidan. We also thank to Sr. Greta Conninckx and the participants from the Imelda Institute.
The students from our School Of San Joseph Of The Latin Patriarchate will visit Brussels on the month of September 2017.
