High school participants in the Why Not? program are able to engage in healthy dialogue that bridges two cultures and helps to break down preconceptions. Photo credit: Albana Dwonch for Mercy Corps

Chris Pearson, a high school student at Trillium Charter School in Portland, Oregon, US, has spent his summer interacting online with students in the Middle East. Just last week Chris had the opportunity to speak with these students face-to-face in a live video conference. Chris is a member of the Why Not? Program developed by Mercy Corps - an international humanitarian aid organization headquartered in Portland, Oregon.

Q: Can you give an overview of the Why Not? Program?
Chris Pearson: The program exists as a means to initiate dialogue between Gaza and the US. It is a way to challenge stereotypes that people pick up through the media, and inspire a healthy conversation to take place. Groups of students in the US interact online with students in Gaza by posting messages, pictures, videos and poems. We have also been able to interact through live video conferencing.

How did you become involved?
I was offered to become a part of the program by my teacher. In the mornings at school I spent time on the website and writing online. But I became really inspired after the first video conference in June.

Can you tell me about the video conferences?
There have been three so far, one in June and two in August. We prepared and exchanged questions to ask each other at the conferences (beforehand). One of the greatest parts at the first conference was the warm greeting the leader on the Gaza side gave us. She told us how grateful and excited they were to be there talking with us, and we were able to express the same.It was a great way to start the interaction.

When you talk face to face you realize that everyone wants the same things-health, family and friends.

It took some time during the video conference to get to the deeper questions and start more of an ongoing dialogue rather than moving from one prepared question to the next with one answer. It also took a little while for the conversation to get beyond the political realm. But once we got to the deeper individualized issues I liked the video conference a lot. When you talk face to face you realize that everyone wants the same things-health, family and friends.

Can you give examples of the types of questions that were asked?
What is your view of world peace? What is your perspective of the US? Do you feel safe in your country? One girl asked how I felt looking at her knowing she is an Arab. I told her I felt like she was just a kid, like me, and I don't feel differently towards her than I would someone in my own city. She was relieved.

Was there anything that surprised you about the video conferences?
I realized that a lot of the US students are ignorant of the situation in Gaza. Some students were not prepared. But it also surprised me the diversity of answers and opinions within one group. For instance, we were able to see a girl in Gaza with a headdress give her opinion on why she wears the headdress; and another girl from the same group give her opinion on why she does not wear the headdress.

What are the benefits of this kind of interaction?
It breaks down borders. And it gives the chance for freedom of speech. We were able to speak to these students without an interpreter or mass media getting in the way. The people in Gaza become humanized, and it allows us to both give a fair example of our beliefs.

We got to hear the personal stories of how these students are affected on a daily basis by having soldiers on their street. It is a reality for them.

What were some of the challenges?
Well, technical difficulties. I also wanted more of a dialogue, a lot of the time only one person was able to answer a certain question. And there was some controversy between US students and their opinions. When one view validated the stereotypes the Gaza students might have about the US, it was up to another student to challenge this.

Can you give an example?
One kid said he felt safe in the US because we have nuclear weapons and a powerful military. I disagreed with this statement by saying this made me feel unsafe, because when nuclear weapons and our army go to another country our security comes at the expense of that other country.

Did you and your fellow students know about the conflict in Gaza before this program?
I knew a minimal amount from what I heard from different sources and on the news, but it wasn't clear enough to form an opinion. I could draw parallels to other situations though, like in Northern Ireland. Our class discussed and was required to know about the situation before the video conferences though, so we were prepared. But I don't think students from some of the other US schools were as prepared as our group.

How did reading the poems affect you?
The poems were intense. We got to hear the personal stories of how these students are affected on a daily basis by having soldiers on their street. It is a reality for them, and I was able to get a real understanding of what their life is like.

What has been the impact for you in having this kind of interaction?
It makes the world feel smaller. I am inspired to go further and wonder if it will make a change in the world. It has made me more aware of how others feel and allows me to have empathy for more people.

Do you plan on continuing with the program in the future?
I've been asked to be the spokesman, a representative for our group of students. And in the long term I hope to continue with this kind of open communication even if it is no longer with this program.

Do you have anything else to add?
How important it is for direct relationships to be built rather than a conversation between politicians. And it begins with questioning-wondering how others live and feel.

The Why Not? Program is a youth connectivity project headed by Jana Potter, an educator with a background in cross cultural education, curriculum development and educational capacity building. Jana has worked internationally for thirteen years as a teacher trainer, program developer, curriculum writer and director; she has been with Mercy Corps since 2006.




Contributed by Cami Martin, a writer for Global Envision. Cami has a BA in English from the University of Oregon and works for Mercy Corps.

To read another Global Envision article about cross-cultural communication amoung youth, see Cornell University's Distance-Learning Course Makes Global Connections.



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