Middle East Association of Training and Retreat Centers
MEATRC
 

 

November 2003-June 2004

 

Prepared by Dr. Nuha Khoury

 In 2003 MEATRC continued to work on the issue of Non–Violence, Conflict Resolution, Reconciliation and Mediation, mainly through the regional training meetings, which are held annually. In addition, MEATRC maintained the capacity building element through conducting workshops for our member centers on capacity building, conflict resolution, non-violent communications and e-communications.

 

In terms of volume of the activities, the end of the year 2003 and the beginning of 2004 has been an active one for MEATRC. From November of 2003 and until June of 2004, a large number of local training sessions took place. The capacity building programs that have been conducted in different countries varied in terms of topics and depended on the needs of these different regions. As for the activities that have taken place on the regional and sub-regional levels from November 2003 until June 2004, the following is a report:

 

 

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Executive Committee Meetings

 

  1. An Executive Committee meeting took place 24 - 26 Feb 2004 at St. Mark center, Cairo – Egypt. The discussion focused on the following issues:
The proposed amendments for the MEATRC Constitution
Programs for 2004 
October 2004 General Assembly & Regional Meeting

 

  1. An Executive Committee meeting took place in June 20-22 in Aiya Napa, Cyprus.

The discussion focused on the following issues:

Follow up on decisions taken earlier
Studying the comments and responses of the different centers to the amendments of MEATRC’s Constitution
Final preparations for the October regional meeting and elections

 

 

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General Assembly 2003 & Regional Training Meeting

 

 

A General Assembly for the member Centers was held in Cairo, Egypt from 4-5 November 2003. Two business sessions were conducted on the 4th of November, in the presence of the OIKOSNET members, where the narrative and financial reports were presented to the members of the association by the executive committee and the accountant of the Association. Elections for the new executive committee, which were to be held on that same day, were postponed to the next regional meeting in 2004, due to the amendments to the constitution that would take place prior to the elections in 2004. During the session, the membership application of two new centers (Sabeel from Palestine, and Beit al-Salam from Egypt) were accepted by the General Assembly.

 

On November 5th, the delegates of the different member centers as well as the OIKOSNET members went on visitations in Cairo to

1. Centers that belong to and are run by CEOSS

2. Centers that belong to and are run by the Coptic Bishopric of the Social Services

3. The Experimental Center that has development programs for the garbage collectors in Ezbet El Nakhel (U.R.M and Salam Center).

 

An interfaith meeting at CEOSS Center for a Ramadan Iftar (breaking the fast) was also arranged on November 5th for the OIKOSNET members. A cultural day around Cairo was arranged for the member centers’ delegates as well as the OIKOSNET members on the 6th of November.  The Annual Meeting and regional training for MEATRC members was held in Beit al-Salam Conference in Alexandria- Egypt between 7 – 10 Nov 2003.

The regional training program, entitled “Together we reconcile with God and the others” continued the theme of Non–Violence, Conflict Resolution, Reconciliation and Mediation, and focused on training the member Centers on conflict resolution strategies and techniques. Twenty participants attended the annual training workshop, representing the different member centers of MEATRC.

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OIKOSNET Meeting 2003

 

 

The OIKOSNET meeting, which took place in Cairo in 2003, started on November 7th and ended in November 10th after the end of the General Assembly. This meeting was attended by representatives of all of the different member associations, as well as EED representative, Rev. Tim Kuschnerus, WCC representative, Ms. Tara Tautari, and Mr. Baffour Amoa, who is a member of the evaluation team that evaluated the work of OIKOSNET in 2003. Attending this meeting was also Ms. Evelyn Appiah, the former Executive Secretary of the Education & Ecumenical Formation department at the World Council of Churches. A thank you dinner took place in Cairo to honor and say goodbye to Ms. Appiah, who has been the driving force behind the work of OIKOSNET for many years.  

 

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Sub Regional Training

 

a. Egypt

 

 

A four-day training workshop was held at St. Mark’s Center from 26th to the 30th of December 2003 on the topic of “Building Center’s staff computer skills”. Twenty- four participants took part in the training on computer programs (word, Excel, etc.) as well as electronic communications.

 

Four days training workshop was held at Bayad Center in December 2003 on the topic of “Building the capacity of the center staff”. Twenty-eight participants, including Bayad Center staff, sectors supervisors, development workers and project managers from other centers in Beni Sueif took part in the training. As part of the training workshop, the participants visited St. George Center in Sedment for an exchange of experiences between the centers’ staff. The main topics dealt with in the training were Management elements, communication skills, and conflict management

 

Four days training workshop was held at Itsa Center in December 2003 on the topic of “Increasing the capacity of the Center's team work” Twenty participants from Itsa Center staff took part in the training. The main topics dealt with included professional techniques that help in the different fields of work, skills in the art of communication and in dealing with different kinds of clients as well as management skills

 

A four days workshop took place at ITSA Center in El-Minia on May 25- 29, 2004 on “ Capacity Building “. Thirty participants from different MEATRC member and non- member Centers took part at this training.

 

 

b. Syria and Lebanon

 

A three day workshop-seminar was held in Aleppo between November 14-16th

2003 entitled “Living with our differences: Living together, accepting the other.” Thirty two (32) participants from different member and non – member MEATRC Centers and Churches took part in this workshop. The aim of the training was to equip a group of youth leaders to work in centers and churches.

 

The workshop concentrated on:

  1. Living peacefully according to Christian values and basics.
  2. Facing problems and ways to solve them.
  3. Conflict resolutions.
  4. The importance of dialogue.
  5. Means and techniques for negotiations.
  6. Accepting each other upon Biblical basis.
  7. Living together with our differences.
  8. Effective Leadership, Positive Thinking and future vision for the community.

 

A three-day Communication training workshop on computer and Internet use was

organized (27, 28, 29 Dec. 2003) for youth leaders of the Armenian Churches and centers (Protestant, Orthodox, and Catholic) on the importance of the Computer and the e-technology for centers and Churches. The workshop was held in the Armenian language. Twenty two (22) individuals from several Armenian Churches and centers participated.

 

La Fondacion Center in Bekfaya, Lebanon, held a workshop for two weeks in

November 2003 under the title “CAPACITY BUILDING FOR EFFECTIVE SOCIAL INVOLVEMENT.” These workshops were held for young women and men. The aim of these workshops, were to equip a group of women and men to work in the rural community centers in the villages of the mountains. The area lacks a lot of services and equipped leadership, to carry on a meaningful community work. The workshops concentrated on: 1. Human communication and its role in society involvement and a search for the cause of conflict in our lives and finding the solutions.2. Effective leadership, management ability evaluation, successful planning, future vision, specific aims, positive thinking, time planning, and priority planning with the aim of society change. A total of 31 participants benefited from these training workshops.

 

In December 2003, Dar Al Inaya Center in southern Lebanon held two workshops

in Providence Home on the topic of “Group Dynamics, Leadership, and Conflict Resolution”. The training was given to young men and women to help them with their volunteer work in the different towns and villages that they came from.  A total of 60 people attended these workshops.

 

Between the 26th to 28th of March 2004, a three day workshop was held in Aleppo

on the topic “Being Light in the Community.” Twenty nine (29) participants, from different member and non – member MEATRC Centers and Churches, took part in the training. The emphasis of the workshop was on the importance of living in a multi-cultural and multi faith society in order to begin to understand the role of the centers and the churches in building a better and harmonious community and society. The seminar included discussion and interaction sessions and some important burning questions on globalization, dialogue of civilizations and the value of living in a multi – faith culture and society.

 

A workshop under the title of  “Mass Media and Environment  in the Service of

Youth” was in the Gemayel Foundation in Bekfaya - Mount Lebanon from April 29th to May 1st 2004. Nineteen (19) participants from Lebanon and Syria attended the workshop, which was conducted by two trainers form the Lebanese University.

 

 

c. Palestine

 

In December 2003, the International Center of Bethlehem held three

communications workshops for the member centers in Palestine to maximize the effectiveness of work for employees of local MEATRC centers through optimal use of computers and Internet. The training was designed to assist the employees to face the challenges of today’s world; to train and encourage them to apply computer skills to enhance their work and to introduce them to the new work opportunities created by tools of electronic communication and computer applications. Also, another aim of these workshops is to help centers to design and improve their website as a helpful tool for advocacy. A total of 60 employees, from the four MEATRC centers in Palestine; Sabeel, YWCA, Al-Liqa’, and ICB, participated in the training program. The three workshops were entitled:

1. Information Sharing and Electronic Communication: Network, Security, Internet, and Email Programs

2. Web Site Design

3. MS Office Tools (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

 

d. Cyprus

 

A training workshop on conflict resolution and leadership skills took place the last

week of November 2003 at Napa Conference Center (ANCC). The workshop was attended by 32 participants and lasted for 5 full days. The participants were from Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Egypt. The program included two full days of training on conflict resolution and three days on leadership skills.

 

 

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 Publications

 

As part of the campaign to promote the work of MEATRC and introduce its centers to others, one thousand calendars for the year 2004 were printed and distributed to all the centers of MEATRC during the General Assembly. Calendars were also distributed to the other associations that belong to the OIKOSNET, and to other organizations and churches. Twelve different centers were featured in this calendar, where a picture of the center or its work was enclosed, along with a brief introduction.
The MEATRC website was upgraded and expanded. Work continues on the website to make it a useful advocacy tool for MEATRC

 

 

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Upcoming Programs for 2004

 

 

Sub-regional Training

Egypt

Second part of the “Capacity Building workshop” is planned to be held during September 2004.

 

Syria and Lebanon

 

A workshop on “Youth and Ecology” will be conducted in Syria in November 2003

 

Palestine

A Web Site Design Course for MEATRC Member Centers in Palestine will be offered in September and October of 2004. The goal of the International Center of Bethlehem is to develop the capabilities of MEATRC member centers’ employees in the field of e-communications so as to enable them to enhance their job performance.  To this end, a 30 hour training course in web design is offered for the employees of the local MEATRC centers in Palestine to equip the centers with skills necessary to develop their websites and make them more effective tool of advocacy.

 

Cyprus

In July 2004, the Aiya Napa Conference Center in Cyprus (ANCC) will organize a conference on peace and reconciliation under the title “Supporting Civil Peace in Lebanon." This is an annual program that has been going on since 1999.

 

Regional Training

The annual regional training program for MEATRC members will be held in Egypt between 11-15 October 2004. The topic that the training will address is “Towards a Culture of non-violence in the Middle East.” Preceding the training, the elections of the new executive committee of MEATRC will take place as well as the ratification of the amendments made to the constitution.     

 

Final Note

 

As this report is being written, the situation in the Arab world and the whole of the Middle East continues to be one of tension and political restlessness. The political situation is aggravated by worsening economic conditions and social upheaval. The rise of religious fundamentalism in our part of the world, and the unprecedented attack on the value system of the Islamic world, the world to which the Middle East belongs and the context in which our centers operate, has increased the value of our work. As centers in the Middle East today we are called to be the voice of the voiceless and a meeting place for the different cultures and religions, so that the false prophesy of the advocates of the “clash of civilizations” would not become a reality.

 

 Other Reports
2000/2001
2001/2002
2002/2003
2003/2004
2004/2005
2005/2006