While some of our group explored the Church of the Nativity, a couple of us explored the market places around Bethlehem. I was struck by the desperation some people would go to in order to make some money. We were in search of some freshly squeezed juice and after refusing to pay a high price of 7 shekels, we found someone who would give us orange juice for 5 shekels. Sitting down in the backroom of his stall, we realised that he did not sell orange juice at all. Instead he sent someone out to buy oranges from a neighbouring stall and squeezed them himself! Very enterprising we thought!
We were the only tourists in the market place. The mounds of fresh fruit and vegetables were all for local people. Some of the stalls were clearly selling second or maybe third hand shoes. There were empty areas, that would have previously held vendors, but now they lie empty because the economy is so bad.
After exploring the markets, we were reunited with our group and made out way to Wi'am. This project works on education the local youth in reconciliation, in the hope that the next generation can hold the key to a better way of communicating non-violence. Wi'am offers many programmes to support the young people of Bethlehem - including specialist programmes for children, young people and women. Wi'am have a new base from which to deliver their work - right next to the wall that separates the West Bank from Israel. They have high hopes to raise money to develop their site to hold a play area for children and a fully functioning conference centre.
Having visited this project in 2006, it was good to see some positive changes for their organisation and to see our group clearly gain a lot from the experience of hearing Wi'am's story. If you want to know more about Wi'am - here is their website http://www.alaslah.org/.
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