Please help me keep the sister city project between my hometown of Olympia, Washington, and Rafah, in Palestine, moving ahead.
"I
should at least mention that I am also discovering a degree of strength and of basic ability for humans to remain human in the direst of circumstances - which I also haven't seen before. I think the word is dignity. I wish you could meet these people. Maybe, hopefully, someday you will."
- Rachel Corrie, in an email to her mother, February 28 2003.
People in Olympia, WA, and Rafah, Gaza, have been working on a sister city project since 2003 and have established fair-trade programs, pen pal relationships and coordinated events in both our communities. We're currently working on a project to link teachers in both Rafah and Olympia for coordinated English and Arabic language lessons in both places. As the president of the board of directors for the Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project (orscp.org), I'd like to be an Olympia delegate to Rafah this year and get things going. I'm also a certified teacher of English as a foreign language, so when our friends in Rafah sent us an email suggesting language learning exchanges I was really keen on the idea.
I'm going to be setting up the technology and training people on its use so we can coordinate the language project and others between Olympia and Rafah, but need to be there for a number of months to really get things going. This project has been incredibly important to a number of people in both our communities in recent years and shows how direct, grassroots connections can create trust and friendship that governments can't seem to foster.
Traveling in the Middle East and getting into Gaza can be time consuming and costly, but this will be my third trip to the region. I've quit my job, cashed out my 401(k) and spent my savings to help develop this project. I'm looking for help in reaching the stage that brings ORSCP goals into fruition.
Thanks.
- Andrew Ford Lyons
Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project
I'm including links for you to read more about the sister city project and what we're working on:
About the project:
[ link ]
Areas we work on:
[ link ]
Delegation 2007:
http://orscp (more) 
Wish
Comments
Sorry, I don't think this is a good use of RH funds. I admire some of your organization's stated goals, but I think it's tough to achieve true justice or peace from such a biased position.
I think this is a great cause and a wonderful idea. I'd be honored to sister with a city in Palestine... if any place needs RHF's goodwill right now, I'd say the Middle East isn't a bad place to start ;)
Gave a fiver. I am a supporter for an independent Palestine. May al-Filastin be free from tyranny and oppression!
- MENJ
[ link ]
Fived you, do the same for me please?[ link ]
A worthy wish... but probably a little out of reach for the Robin Hood Fund.
Great wish.. good luck & God Bless