Tuesday evening, 12 November, Adahya (which I probably spell differently each time I write it.)  Another warm and clear early September day in mid-November Palestine.
   Today, I taught a workshop with twelve counselors: some we would call guidance counselors, some focus on substance abuse, one works in a psychiatric hospital and one with the deaf and hearing impaired.  Ten were women, the other two men, one of whom, Nasser, organized the workshops in cooperation with the office of the Palestine Ministry of Education.  This was my second day with this group.  Tomorrow and Thursday, I'll be working with middle school students who have had problems in school because of learning disabilities, abuse, poverty, emotional or mental challenges or a combination.  Fortunately, they work with Nasser in programs he has designed.
   Nasser is a counselor - the counselor - at a boys middle school with 450 kids, he does substance abuse and domestic violence counseling in the camp where he lives, and he has set up a counseling program in another camp for men released after ten to twenty years in Israeli prisons.  All this he does because he sees the need and believes that as a Muslim it is his obligation to help those in need.  This is a remarkable man!

Nasser is a new friend.  I met him when I was here in April and was impressed with his connection to kids.  He is in his late forties, has four kids, lives in a camp in Bethlehem, was in Israeli prison on and off for seven years when he was a young man and he is a devout Muslim.
   Nasser works in a school that probably has too many kids and not enough teachers in a building that needs a lot of work.  It's inner city education for the disenfranchised.  There are good teachers, some of whom I've met, and those who probably should not be teaching.  It's a familiar story; only the setting is different: a poorly managed school in a poor neighborhood in an occupied country.  Nasser refuses to be caged by these conditions and he works hard to enable the kids he advises to see the windows, then to open them and see the horizon.
   It is difficult to describe Nasser and how he works.  He speaks to all the kids, seems to know them, and they respond to his welcome and to his directions.  If he says, "Not now," they turn and leave to come back later.  They know he would see them if he could.  He appears to be tireless.  He is a dreamer and he works to make those dreams happen.  He says, in words similar to these: "I lost my childhood.  Now I am lucky: I can live it through these children, by helping them grow."  Nasser spent most of his teen years in prison for his involvement in protests against the occupation.  I don't think he was ever charged anything.
   He works a full day at the school, then goes either to a refugee camp to work with freed prisoners, and to spend the night there - he does this three days a week - or to his own camp to do counseling for substance abuse and domestic violence and to be with his family.  He saves the weekend - Friday and Saturday - for his family most of the time.  It is Nasser who set up the workshops I am doing this week.
   Nasser sees real possibilities for change through using theater with kids.  After today's workshop, he talked at length about developing a theater component at his middle school and a training program for counselors so they can teach teachers how to use theater in the classroom.  This he believes, will help change the educational system from one that depends on the teacher's imparting information and discipline to more student involvement in their own education, more participation and more thought about what is important for them to learn.

   The teachers are also excited about this idea.  We talked about it during our break today and Nasser asked me if I would consider helping to train counselors in ways to use theater in schools to motivate and support kids.  He and the teachers are enthusiastic about this prospect, and Nasser, who describes himself as "a dreamer," works hard to realize his dreams.  I will be surprised if this training doesn't occur.  Nasser asks for nothing from the government.  Once he has an idea and tests it, he pursues it, support wherever he can but not asking for government financing or approval.  He asks for permission when necessary and once he has it, he's off and running.  This training of counselors is one of those ideas, and Nasser has his feet set in the starting blocks.
   More about Nasser and the workshops in tomorrow's blog.