Ain El Helwa camp
Sunday - January 11 - 2009
Sponsor: Amine
Facilitators: Amine & Lina
As we walked the kids up to the indoor playground, I spoke to one of the Palestinian camp teachers about the current situation in Gaza. I could tell she was deeply affected. And though I was as well, with most others, she seemed to be quite unsettled, but on a whole other level, completely unconceivable to me - and, understandably so. I noted that she was able to keep a smile on her face throughout our heavy conversation, but could tell from her gaze that she was troubled and her mind was elsewhere.
Our sponsor, Amine, had made a lot of effort setting this day up for the kids to make sure things went smoothly. She had called the McDonalds neighboring the playground, in advance, to make sure they could accommodate our group and take care of us. Historically, in my experience with camp kids, going to a fast food joint after each event has always been quite a treat for them. However, as we informed the Palestinian teachers about McDonalds this time, an eerie quiet fell – and I could sense a bit of tension. I inquired to find out what this was about. Simply, in light of the war in Gaza, they were undertaking a boycott. I was impressed with how well Amine was ready to alter the lunch arrangements without question. As well, I was impressed with the camp teachers urging us not to not go through any trouble, and that ultimately, they would be okay with it. I still felt as though we needed to make a shift. Realizing most places in the food court would, in one way or another, aid America/Israel, we consulted and figured a way to re-group to Mi-Chaud, a Lebanese food chain, with the very kind last second help from the manager at the playground.
In the meantime, to help alleviate the McDonalds manager for any wrongdoing, I had explained to her our situation. She didn’t seem surprised, upset, or confused. Rather, she gave me back some real positive, warm energy of understanding.
As we were finishing up with our lunch at Mi-Chaud, the manager from McDonalds had her staff present us all with ice cream cones for the kids, and balloons. Now, I was confused. In my previous conversation with this manager, I had explained to her about my camp’s unease with our spending going to profit America/Israel – especially during such a time ... so, the manager decided to simply give us this special treat for free – for all 20 kids. I didn’t know what to say.
Though I still need to process with my camp teachers about how they felt with the kids taking McDonalds balloons back home to the camp, I was ecstatic and thoroughly impressed with the empathy this Lebanese McDonalds manager had towards our Palestinian group – and her gestures of good will.
Upon further reflection, as the kids were finishing up with their ice cream, I had made aware to my sponsor and facilitator that, they, a Christian and Shia, both Lebanese, had come together to make this special day happen for these Palestinian kids (predominately Sunni). I had mentioned how really kind of cool and unusual this was – and had asserted that we really were making strides here, and then half-jokingly said that, “We’re kind of making history here in Lebanon today.” They both disagreed with me, gave me a “look” as they usually do, and didn’t think it was a big deal. They went onto say that this sort of thing happens in Lebanon all the time. I laughed in a way that demonstrated a bit of disagreement as this has not been my experience at all with the project thus far. I didn't push the issue, and am certainly happy it is moving in this direction now - but I will say, I was very much content walking back to the car park with a Christian on my right, a Shia on my left, knowing that a bus full of Palestinian kids were singing all the way back to the camp, while a Lebanese McDonalds manager, of who knows what religion, smiles in the background.
