How does one explain the connection between teachers in the Latin Patriarchate schools (LPS) and those in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati (AOC) schools who have participated in HOPE? By using their own words.
One U.S. HOPE teacher, Judy Maly says, “I am a better person because of my HOPE experience. I joined HOPE and visited the Holy Land to help share my knowledge of the classroom. However, HOPE has given me so much more: sharing teacher knowledge to help our students learn, but also creating great friendships. We share our classrooms, lives and families with each other. “
Her fellow teacher and friend from the LPS, Abeer Bannoura, says, “We began our relationship when a group of teachers came to Palestine and visited my school. I think it was God’s will to let me meet Judy. We shared ideas and became friends. We keep in contact with each other and we started to include our students, who wrote letters and we even skyped classes together.”
Cindy Male, sums the experience up well: “My journey to HOPE and to the Holy Land was Spirit led. Words are inadequate to express their hospitality and kindnesses. The teachers opened their schools, homes, parishes, and hearts to the strangers from a far-off land – even taking care of me when I became ill. During the trip, I met Nadia Tuffaha. By the end of our second day of workshops, we had a special bond, not just professionally as math teachers, but more like sisters.”
HOPE teacher Sharon Bohlen, writes: “Twinning with the LPS teachers has been the most powerful educational experience of my adulthood – in both my career and personal life. I had little knowledge of the daily life of the Christians in the Holy Land. What I experienced on my first trip caused a seismic paradigm shift, especially in my understanding of the world-wide Church. I learned a lot about Arab culture and appreciate their devotion to their Faith, family, delicious food, and the relationship Palestinians have with their Arab neighbors. Most importantly, my understanding of Scripture grew exponentially. As Jan McManus (another HOPE teacher) said, ‘The Bible became a pop-up book.’ It has spurred my hunger to know more and I continue to study Scripture, biblical timelines and maps, etc.”
HOPE provides training in Talents Unlimited, a critical thinking approach that is applicable to any subject, grade level, or student ability. “The inclusion of Talents can be the connector between LPS and AOC teachers as a common language for leading students to think critically and creatively in any land,” according to Kelly Lomax, director of Talents Unlimited. Especially in this time of Covid-19, the teachers have found that Talents Unlimited enhances their teaching online.
Thaira Naseem and Mira Al Taweel, who had not met until being a part of HOPE, both credit Talents with enhancing their teaching methods and their new friendship. Mira said, “It made me change my methods to better help students.” Thaira relates, “Talents adds a lot to my educational ideas and I learned new technological methods.” According to Abeer Hanna, Director of Schools in Palestine, “Despite the great challenges we face, we are satisfied with what we have achieved.”
What kind of sharing between teachers went on during Covid? Wafa’ Abu Zant wrote: “As an English teacher, I was able to teach lots of vocabulary about the Covid situation. My students were able to express their feelings and thoughts. They wrote essays and recorded video about how their lives were changed. They also wrote about what they learned during the lockdown.” Judy Maly in Cincinnati, inspired by Wafa’s students, assigned the same task to her students with great success.
HOPE echoes the words of Fernando Cardinal Filoni, Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem
“We will not be the great architects of peace and civil coexistence; rather, … we prefer to be small workers in the Lord’s vineyard – not presumptuous, not all-knowing, but happy craftsmen, believing that, in this way, we can make a real and effective contribution, even if it is not always visible or recognized by most.”