Last week I went down the valley and discovered a part of Abu Dis that I hadn't been to. A narrow lane winds down and there are many old houses dropping down the hillside. We visited one at the end of the lane which was in fact an old farm house. There were sheep and goats in the barn and some very noisy dogs greeted us. The main room of the house was about a 5 metre square with a domed roof of mud construction with very thick walls at least 1 metre and arched windows. It was so warm and comfortable without any of the heating of a modern house. Towards the evening the men of the house sit around a brazier smoking their shish and later apparently they bring the glowing embers into the house and the walls must absorb the heat and store it letting out the heat during the day. It is strange to find the old mixed up with the new - in a corner there was a computer and in another the tv. They have built a kitchen and bathroom extension on too. However cheese is still made in the traditional way and they took me to show me some of the other old tools including the hand turning mill for grain. I think the family enjoy a simple and natural way of life.
The next big event of last week was International Women's Day celebration on Saturday. We had planned it to coincide with the one at the Calthorpe Project. This was a joint event between CADFA and Calthorpe and the Palestinian women who are visiting the UK talked about their experiences as part of the very varied programme of storytelling, window box planting, pesto making, Palestinian food, singing and dance. I gather that people attending the event were deeply moved by the Palestinian stories, particularly the one from Hiba whose mother was killed by Israeli soldiers who invaded her house while she was trying to protect her grand children. Her story is told in "Woman's Voice" magazine which is available from CADFA. It was planned to have a live video link between the two centres. Unfortunately this did not quite work out as a result of some technical difficulties so we were only able to exchange live messages but we had some fun doing that as women from both places were able to send their individual messages. Over the last couple of months both organisations had been selling raffle tickets to raise money to make a garden and playspace at Dar Assadaqa. It looks like we have raised around £400 - enough to hire a bulldozer to flatten the front for a games area and hopefully some play equipment and some garden tools.
In Dar Assadaqa we also planned a garden event. The garden has been quite neglected and lots of rubbish has accumulated so we planned a "clean-up the garden day". Unfortunately this turned out to be a wintry, rainy day. So a couple of days before the celebration the women and some of the kids spent an hour or so doing a basic clearance. We invited women to come along and bring plants and seeds or young trees to plant on the day. We had quite a selection including geraniums, quite a few sedums, rose cuttings, vines, a small fig tree and a lemon tree. In contrast to the previous week the day was like a hot summer's day. When 3 o'clock arrived, the appointed starting time of the celebration there were no garden tools and only one of the committee members present. However everything turned out fine and we finally have the start of a garden.
On 8th of March I, Jennifer (the new volunteer) and Nadia went to Ramallah for an International Women's Day gathering. Many different women attended. They gathered in the main square of the city which has four lion sculptures, similar to our Trafalgar Square on a small scale!
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