Blog | The Jerusalem Intercultural Center

MiniActive – New Course on Nutrition Opens at the Abna al-Quds Community Center

We’ve reported many of the MiniActive successes on our blog here. The blog also includes descriptions of a wide variety of classes that participants can take part in, as a way to improve their everyday lives as well as build community. Last week, on September 5, we began a new course on proper nutrition at the Abna al-Quds Community Center in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City.

Going over the nutrition pyramid

The course was developed out of a need in the field, due to a rise in diabetes, obesity and other chronic illnesses associated with lifestyle. The opening session reviewed the nutritional pyramid, the influence of food and physical activity on people’s health, the need to include as few toxins in our food as possible. Fifty-four participants gathered for the opening session.

An impressive first day

Certified nutritionist Susan Tony will accompany the course for 4 months. We wish the participants well – and good health!

Here’s the Facebook post (in Arabic):

Naomi Roff2016-10-07T13:15:09+00:00September 12th, 2016|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

MiniActive Youth – also Improving Issawiya

We’ve written here about MiniActive Youth’s project in Silwan. They are also helping to decorate a special education school in Issawiya. The girls started at the end of July.

They decorated one of the school’s doors.

Decorating doors

And fences.

Fences

And other structures outside the school, making it a more pleasant place to be.

Under the sea

And the Facebook post in Arabic:

And here’s some more pictures on their progress, both on the building:

More decorations on the door

Here’s another picture of the decorations painted on one of the aluminum siding fences around the school:

More fun paintings

And on the fence surrounding the school:

May you, too, have a colorful day

And here’s a later Facebook post:

But wait! There are more pictures from Issawiya.

Finishing the decorations on the door

We’re sure these pictures and other decorations will make the children’s learning experience special.

What are they building? We’ll soon find out

Many thanks also to the Tambour paint company, which donated the paint.

Here’s the Facebook post in Arabic:

Naomi Roff2016-08-26T14:46:34+00:00August 25th, 2016|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

MiniActive – Improving the Environment for Palestinian Residents throughout East Jerusalem

We are, yet again, seeing the results of the incredibly hard work the MiniActive women are doing day in, day out. Here are some examples:

In January 2016 MiniActive reported that bricks were falling from a school’s outside wall in the Old City.

The wall, before

Here’s the wall, after the workmen finished on Saturday, August 6:

After. Now this wall won’t be dangerous

Here’s the post from the MinActive Facebook page:

Drainage problems can also be health hazards. Thanks to the work of MiniActive in Kufr Aqeb, this drainage problems has been taken care of. Here’s a before and after picture:

Cleaning up drainage problems in Kufr Aqeb

MiniActive has also followed a number of public works activities that have taken place as a result of their complaints:

In Wadi Joz

And elsewhere in East Jerusalem:

Improving infrastructure for safety

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for its continuing support of MiniActive.

Naomi Roff2016-09-15T16:46:31+00:00August 20th, 2016|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

MiniActive Youth – Fruits of their Labors of the Silwan Project

We’ve reported here on the progress of the MiniActive Youth in decorating and cleaning up the area of the elementary / secondary school in Silwan.

We’re all proud of their work

Now they’ve finished

Putting on the finishing touches

And we’re proudly displaying their final product. The change is most pronounced when we show you the before and after pictures. Here’s one:

Before and after

And here’s another:

A second before and after picture

And a third, this time on garbage receptacles:

It’ll even be fun to take out the trash

Can’t wait to see their projects in other parts of the city. Many many thanks and congratulations on a job well done!

Much more pleasant learning environment!

The Silwan boys school event thanked MiniActive for their efforts, which are translated in this post:

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for their continued support of this project. Many thanks also to the Tambour paint company, which donated the paint.

Here’s the post in Arabic presenting the final product:

Naomi Roff2016-09-10T11:54:52+00:00August 17th, 2016|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

Join the Group, Like the Page – Building Community through Facebook and Other Social Media

In our day and age, the bricks and mortar of building community take many forms. One of the most important forms today is through Facebook and other social media.

During the month of July we held two workshops with the staff at the Gilo Community Council in using Facebook to build community dialogue. The workshop stemmed from our work over the last year with the neighborhood community worker and the local planner, and in our experiences using Facebook in the process.

Using Facebook as a tool for community building

The Gilo Community Council has a very active Facebook page and Facebook group with several thousand members that does a fantastic job in communicating a wealth of information (locating and taking care of nuisances, providing information, advancing small businesses, raising needs in different fields, requests to the Community Council lay and professional leadership to deal with burning issues, and more). There are a number of community-led groups as well; in many of them the community worker is an active member. Here’s an example of an event on the Community Council’s Facebook page:

Because we understood how much the use of Facebook is important in Gilo to the community discourse, we decided to use it to inform residents about the impending expansion of the light rail system into the neighborhood, and to create active discussion and involvement in this process. This work proved to be very effective and impressive. They opened a new Facebook group and uploaded all the relevant information. A number of community town hall meetings were set and advertised in the group, minutes were distributed and discussed in the group (residents expressed their opinions, asked questions and discussed different issues) between residents, as well as between residents and professionals. Here’s an example (in Hebrew) of one of their posts:

Light rail facebook

We learned a great deal as a result of this experience – the dilemmas raised, and the conclusions that we reached – and we concluded that it is important that everyone who works with the community should use this tool. Thus the community worker and JICC staff designed a 3-part workshop for all the staff at the Gilo Community Council: 1) a technical review that discusses the using different aspects of Facebook; 2) skills to use Facebook as a tool for dialogue; 3) ethical questions regarding Facebook and different solutions.

Practicing what they learned

Throughout the month of July there were two meetings with the administrative and coordinating staff of the Gilo Community Council, which included the Director, who actively participated throughout the process. There will be another meeting in October.

We expect that these workshops will enable the staff and leadership of the Gilo Community Council to further engage the community in its important work. Of course, this is only one aspect of their community work….

Naomi Roff2016-08-26T14:34:47+00:00August 15th, 2016|Blog, Deliberative Democracy, Gilo|

MiniActive Women and Youth Improving the Environment in Silwan

We wrote here about about a new group of MiniActive Youth. On July 19 they started action. First stop was beside the boys’ elementary school and boys’ middle school in Silwan. Here’s some pictures:

MiniActive Youth summer 2016

They started working on the area that borders the schools. First they cleaned up the space.

Cleaning up the work area

And then they started painting. First they needed to paint the wall white.

Painting the wall

And then the decoration. Because it’s adjacent to a school, they painted images of Winnie the Pooh,

Winnie the Pooh

SpongeBob Square Pants, Bambi and others, universal characters for children the world over.

SpongeBob, Bambi

Here’s a compilation of “before” and “after,” as well as in between.

Showing the progression

And here’s the first post from the MiniActive Facebook page (in Arabic):

But they didn’t stop there.

Here come the Smurfs too!

A few days later, shaded from the heat, they continued painting favorite characters.

Work to be proud of

Here’s more pictures from the work in progress. The July 26 Facebook post (in Arabic):

And on the next day you can see the progress that they made:

They continue to make progress – in decorating more parts of the outside wall.

Every school should be decorated like this

Or in painting garbage receptacles nearby.

Making even throwing away the trash more pleasant

Notice the graffiti on the wall above the garbage receptacle. Thanks to MiniActive women and the work of the Jerusalem Municipality, this, too has been removed.

MiniActive women and youth, improving the environment in Silwan

Here’s the link to the MiniActive Facebook post (in Arabic):

So great to see the progress! I’m sure we’re not the only ones.

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for their continued support of this project. Many thanks also to the Tambour paint company, which donated the paint.

Naomi Roff2016-08-26T14:41:40+00:00August 9th, 2016|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

Atta’a – Helping Individuals, Helping Groups Obtain Health Care Rights

A Palestinian woman recently approached the Atta’a Assistance Center for the Rights of East Jerusalem Residents with a problem. She was divorced, and had a very sick child who had been given medication that cost 1,200 NIS per month. With assistance from Atta’a volunteers, she submitted a special form available from the Ministry of Health that asked for a special discount on the medication. Her request was approved – now she receives an 80% (!) discount on this child’s medication.

This story is just one of many that Atta’a’s 15 volunteers encounter on a regular basis in one of their three help centers that cover all Jerusalem: Wadi Joz, Sur Baher and their main center in Beit Hanina.

Atta’a drop-in center in action

In addition to individual consultation, Atta’a also provides group workshops on realizing rights, in health care, vis-a-vis the National Insurance Institute, and vis-a-vis the Ministry of the Interior. For example, on July 25, Daud our Atta’a director presented a workshop on rights available from the National Insurance Institute at a conference on type 1 diabetes for residents from East Jerusalem, which was held in cooperation with Magen David Adom. Other workshops covered family re-unification processes, together with the welfare office in Shuafat.

In order to drive up participation they’ve distributed flyers throughout East Jerusalem, such as in the Old City, Wadi Joz, Issawiya, Sur Baher, Silwan, Abu Tor, Ras el-Amud, A-Tur and the Shuafat Refugee Camp. They have also distributed flyers in front of the offices of the National Insurance Institute and the Ministry of the Interior.

Atta’a flyer

Soon we’ll have a new handbook out, on accessibility rights. Stay tuned!

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for their continued support of this program.

Naomi Roff2016-08-26T13:53:46+00:00August 4th, 2016|Attaa, Blog, Cultural Competence, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Palestinians/Arabs|

A Source of Pride – Speaking in the Square Debate Nights Discuss the Gay Pride Parade

“Sometimes, after an evening in Zion Square, it’s difficult for us activists to go to sleep: energies are high, and sometimes the atmosphere is tense. It takes awhile for the adrenaline to leave our systems and fall asleep. But sometimes it’s hard to fall asleep from the excitement and wonder at the strength of what took place yesterday in the Square, in a crowded and hopping Debate Night.”

Speaking in the Square July 21

That is how one of the Speaking in the Square activists described the Speaking in the Square Debate Night on July 21, which took place after a thankfully uneventful Gay Pride Parade. Speaking in the Square has been there over the past 2 years through the thickest and thinnest of social tensions. Last Thursday, they discussed the pro’s and con’s of the parade, which has been prominent in the public discourse leading up to the parade.

Religious, secular, Haredi Jews discussing the Pride Parade

The activist continued continued: “There were Ultra-Orthodox, modern orthodox, secular, gay and straight, and all spoke about the Gay Pride Parade: On tolerance, about considering the ‘other’ and on all of our lives in Jerusalem. For many, it was their first encounter – intriguing but full of emotion – with those who have different opinions. We’re happy and proud to provide that opportunity.”

Jerusalem’s diversity at Speaking in the Square

And here’s the Facebook post in Hebrew:

The subject of the Gay Pride Parade came up in last week’s Debate Night as well, as a result of the public storm raised by a number of Rabbis in the weeks preceding the march. They opened the night with the question of if the parade should run through downtown Jerusalem. They continued on to the question of if single-sex marriages should be allowed. Other subjects that were raised include assimilation and legalization of recreational drugs.

Speaking in the Square Debate Night is back

Between the questions a woman performed a spontaneous values-related-social rap, and after her a young man performed a rap in favor the legalization of cannabis. These spontaneous performances are also part of the respectful discourse that Speaking in the Square are advancing in Zion Square. Zion Square is becoming the town square in the full meaning of the term – a place where different people meet and they talk informally, mutually respecting each other.

The diversity of Zion Square on a Saturday night

“During the summer youth and tourists all come down to the square, and it’s an excellent opportunity for activities that promote tolerance,” said one Speaking in the Square regular. “We’re proud to be part of it. Come and join us!”

Many thanks to the UJA-Federation of New York and the Jerusalem Foundation for their continued support of our efforts to promote tolerance in Jerusalem.

Here’s the Facebook post in Hebrew from last week:

Naomi Roff2016-08-26T13:49:19+00:00July 24th, 2016|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Promoting Tolerance in Jerusalem|

Cultural Competency Training for Municipal Community Department

Cultural Competency – we’ve talked a lot about it, on the blog and on our website, but what is it really?

When we began that discussion some ten years ago, we focused on the health care context. Indeed, if health care services are not culturally competent and sensitive to the vast diversity of cultures in Jerusalem and throughout Israel, it really can be a life or death situation.

Cultural Competency at Hadassah Hospital

But Cultural Competency is so much more than that. In those past ten years, we’ve developed and refined our definition of Cultural Competency to encompass much of our entire approach to community work: All residents have the right to receive basic services (health, education, welfare) that are culturally adapted to best suit their needs. Cultural Competent services enable professionals to provide those services most effectively, and culturally competent residents are empowered to most effectively access these rights and services. You can read about the most recent work we’ve done to advance cultural competency in a number of fields – in health, the police, the workplace, academia. Now, we’re proud to be officially providing widespread training in the Jerusalem Municipality.

Training senior municipal professionals

We’ve been working with the municipal welfare department for several years, facilitating workshops for them here and there, providing critical assistance in emergency situations (like the Haredi mother who was accused of starving her child). All the while, we were looking for ways to introduce cultural competency in a systemic way.

A few weeks ago it began. Not only the welfare department, with which we’d been working before, but the entire Social Services Department, which includes the Welfare Department, the Employment Authority, the Absorption Authority and the Public Health. About 80 senior officials from all the different Departments are participating in the first five workshops, which we are now taking place. The workshops introduce principles of the tools and insights of cultural competency. But this is only the beginning. In the future we expect to hold workshops adapted to the different areas – veterinary services, well-baby clinics, absorption authority, daycare frameworks, welfare workers and social workers, and more. All will undergo workshops led by those trained to lead cultural competency workshops.

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for its continued support of the Cultural Competency program throughout the years.

Naomi Roff2017-01-19T16:43:54+00:00July 22nd, 2016|Asylum Seekers, Blog, Christians, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Jerusalem Municipality, Cultural Competence in the Workplace, Ethiopian Jews, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, New Immigrants, Palestinians/Arabs, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

“What do you say when…..” – Keeping Medical Standards High with Medical Interpreters

As a genetic counselor, what do you say when a family is struggling with infertility, or their unborn fetus has been diagnosed with a genetically-transmitted disease? How do you broach these subjects with Arab patients, or Haredi patients, or patients from different countries, where it is not acceptable to talk in public about issues relating to the child-bearing process? And how does the medical interpreter, who himself often comes from that community but is not trained in the discipline, deal with these questions?

Medical interpreting for genetic counseling was the subject of a recent workshop we facilitated for 18 Jerusalem-based medical interpreters from Hadassah (Ein Kerem and Mount Scopus) and Sha’are Zedek (main hospital and Bikor Holim, which is now part of Sha’are Zedek) – Russian, Amharic, Yiddish and Arabic-speakers in addition to Hebrew. We’re proud to have been a major part of the training and assimilation process of medical interpreters in Jerusalem, which the hospitals now consider an integral part of their care. (We’ve written here and here about these trainings in the past.) Like other aspects of professional healthcare, it is important for medical interpreters to maintain their skills through periodic professional development, and this workshop was part of an ongoing process of supervision and mentoring of the medical interpreters.

Discussing experiences in medical interpreting

We chose to concentrate on genetic counseling because of its multi-layered complexity. According to the US-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in genetic counseling, “specially-trained professionals help people learn about genetic conditions, find out their chances of being affected by or having a child or other family member with a genetic condition, and make informed decisions about testing and treatment.” Because it brings together many different scientific disciplines, it is very difficult to understand, even for someone who studied advanced science. In addition, meetings with genetic counselors are stressful from the get-go, since one is consulted only when there is a problem (or a potential problem) in the child-bearing process – either before conception, during pregnancy, or after the birth of a child with genetic problems. Add to this the different approaches and viewpoints that different cultures have to the different stages of the child-bearing process, as well as their outlook on children with special needs – and the meeting with the genetic counselor is even more tension.

And when the medical interpreter is tasked with being the agent of communication during such a stress-filled meeting, it can be one of the more challenging of situations. Medical interpreters are trained to translate for all types of medical issues from cardiology to orthopedics to oncology, and are not trained as genetic counselors themselves. Sometimes, they feel uneasy with the subject matter, since it often breaches sensitive issues such as birth defects, sex, ending of a pregnancy, and sometimes their initial reaction is to skip over probing questions. At the same time, these questions are vital to the genetic counseling process, and it is critical that an experienced interpreter translate everything.

In the meeting we approached the subject from a number of different angles. After an opening exercise that focused on professional dilemmas in interpretation, participants heard a lecture from Shachar, a genetic consultant from Sha’are Zedek. They learned about the field of genetic counseling, for whom it’s targeted, the challenges in meeting with patients and the challenges in interpreting for patients. The genetic counseling process seeks to understand and evaluate medical and psychological information as well as family complexities related to genetic diseases. In addition to understanding the situation, genetic counselors also try to understand the different options appropriate for each patient and their families. This is why interpersonal communication, and interpreting into the patients’ native language, is of utmost importance.

After the lecture the interpreters discussed a number of challenges they’ve faced. In one example, a patient, who didn’t have the patience to hear what the genetic counselor was saying, told the interpreter, “Just tell her [the genetic counselor] whatever you want.” Such an answer is sometimes difficult to translate, and makes the interpreter feel uncomfortable, but from the standpoint of the genetic counselor it is actually important information in the communication process between them. In this case, the interpreter must overcome his or her discomfort and translate exactly what was said.

They also discussed mediating and advocacy in medical interpretation – two terms that mean a deeper involvement of the interpreter in the meeting. They discussed situations in which these unusual cases might take place, and especially how to do it correctly.

In the end, they broke up into groups according to non-Hebrew language, and different lecturers taught terms specific to genetic counseling, pregnancy and birth in Arabic, Russian, Amharic, and Yiddish.

We hope to have additional peer learning sessions for medical interpreters in Jerusalem – they deserve it! We’ll keep you posted here!

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for its continued support of cultural competency in health care in Jerusalem.

Naomi Roff2016-08-26T14:22:44+00:00July 21st, 2016|Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services|

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