Mediation

It goes without saying that the violence that school children are exposed to on a daily basis as a result of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict sometimes ends up in the playground. We therefore began training students as mediators. During the program which we started in 2007, students learn to intermediate in conflicts, prevent violence and help the parties reach a solution that both sides support. Up to now, 38 students from grade six to ten have successfully completed their training. Every year, the group goes away on a seminar to renew their skills. We also offer related workshops during the course of the year.

In 5th grade, our students complete a special training which is geared towards enhancing their social skills, the results of which will then determine which ten to twelve students continue further with the mediator's training. After completion of their program, our goal for them is to become active mediators for younger students and to promote diplomacy and avoid violence. We would like to enable our students to solve their conflicts by themselves without too much intervention by the teachers. Moreover, we would like to give them a means of conflict resolution which they can readily apply outside of our school environment as well.

Since January 2005, Sumaya Fahrhat-Naser, Ph.D., has been working with our youths in a special program which is called „Dialogue and Personality Development“. A former Talitha Kumi student herself, Fahrhat-Naser was awarded the Augsburg Peace Award („Augsburger Friedenspreis“) in 2003.

Click here to read more about our mediation project (in German)

Further information (in German):
Sumaya Farhat-Naser, Dialog- und Friedensarbeit in Palästina und Deutschland, in: Im Lande der Bibel 2/2005, S. 34-37

Sumaya Farhat-Naser, Frieden – Hoffnung – Sehnsucht, in: Im Lande der Bibel 1/2010, S. 8-13