Summer Strategic Conference 2005

SSC 05: I was very reticent to attend the conference… I asked the other Salaam’ers that work with me if they where going or not and yes was their answer… After some time I came to the conclusion that it could be fun to hang out with the boys outside St Louis. I decided to go.

August 12/13/14, 2005

I just check in at the conference. I’m exhausted, sleepy, tired and I don’t have a room yet. What a start I should have stayed home…
Here we are me and Anis my travel partner trying to keep each other awake, and meeting new people.
Finally, I know how Lyna and Jennifer look like.
Yes…. I GOT A ROOM… After a couple of hours of sleep, here I am meeting the other Salaam trainees. Here I am in front of Hind and Najat my compatriots… First thing I hear from them is Walid we need you to sing during the role call…. WHAT... I can’t even speak correctly. Apparently I gave the impression that I was snobby… did I change it?

Salaam session, here we are all in the same room. What are these people going to bring me I already know what they have to say… heard it so many times… Remember I come from a similar culture.

But I was proved wrong very quickly. Each one of us was different, the Egyptians were amazing, 7 or 8 of them attended; each of them with its own views, opinions, reactions, perceptions and believes. Fady Fakhry thank you…. You already know why… I hope I can go back to your country and visit YOUR Egypt it seams so different from what I saw.

Aqeel Bukhamsin: I read about the wind of change going on in Saudi Arabia but never wanted to believe it… you made me realize that was seams impossible can happen.

Ameera Alzarqawi: Use your new Wright to vote to make things happen, change for better and move forward… You’re out of the box, take what is good from the cultures you discover.

Fadi Jarjour: I think that what you are experiencing is great… these people are the best friends you can have; personally I had a lot of fun with the gay community back in Montreal. They helped me understand that it is a matter of choice and that everyone should respect the others choice as long as it does not harm him.

The Tunisians, I hope it is already understood… You guys are my brothers, I know your not Moroccans but I can smell the Maghreb in you. Ahmed, I would like to talk to you more and see what treasures you hide. Anis, keep the smile on your face; you look awful when you are pissed. Riadh, keep on making me cry, it means that I saw beautiful things that touched me.

Hind Cherkaoui: Thank you for confirming that the idea I had before about girlswearing Hijab (Veil) was completely wrong… and that changing it was a greatdecision.

Jennifer Harwood: Thank you for believing in the project and bringing it to live. I can’t thank you enough, not for the traineeship but for the conference.

Lyna Saad: If all Jews and Muslims tried to understand each others cultures I’m sure that the Middle East conflict could be rapidly solved.

I know im forgetting someone or something… But you’ll forgive me

Keep in touch, communicating between us will increase our understanding of the other.

By the way I’m glad I was present at SSC 05