Excursions are an important part of youth work and so they are too in Amudei Shalom. On two days in March almost 80 youngsters of the Arab movement Ag’ial went to Ein Gedi national park for a hiking trip. The participants spent two days and a night hiking, getting explanations about the special importance of the area and learning about themselves.

Naturally, in a project like Amudei Shalom, trips like this aim for higher goals than just to provide an adventure for the participants. For the team leaders the goal was to take over responsibility for a large event and to properly organize its execution. The participants, however had the opportunity to explore their own personal limits, both physically and mentally as well as to experience a feeling of belonging to a group and acting in a team.

For most of the facilitators, some of them still in their teens themselves, this weekend was their first opportunity to organize and execute and event of this scale on their own responsibility. Tasks included finding the right hikes and camping spots, renting buses, prepare workshops, anticipate possible difficulties and ultimately, leading the group into the Judean Desert. They did their job well: The youngsters had a successful weekend under the open skies and underwent some meaningful discussions and educational sessions. And even though Aiman Kabha, the group leader, still sees potential for improvement, he is very proud of his young team, as he later writes in his report.

Also for the participants, teens between 15 and 17 years, the hiking and camping in the wild was only one part of the experience. They had to find their own personal boundaries and limits, try to manage their physical resources over those two days and also trust and follow their leading team. Another goal was to take in the majestic landscape of the Judean Desert and the Dead Sea and to get a feeling of responsibility for this spectacular and unique, but yet so fragile natural site. In the workshops they learned to acknowledge this uniqueness and their obligation as responsible citizens to protect it. As an example, every waste that had been brought into the park by the group, was taken out and disposed of later. This kind of behavior doesn’t come natural to people here and the group made an effort to set an example.

But there was also fun and singing around the campfire and laughter and talk about a lot of things, some more, some less important. And after two days and a night in the dust and the sand, the youngsters left the place to go back to their towns and villages. What they took back with them was a sense of awareness and responsibility for nature’s treasures and society’s assets as well as a feeling of achievement and personal success. All of them left, knowing that this should not have been their last trip into nature. In July they will take their Jewish partners with them.