El-Djazair Alumni Newsletter - February 2011

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say that many Diplomats wereModels United Nation dele-

gates, From the bottom of myheart I wish that I will be one ofthe decision makers in order tobe more useful and the mostimportant be able to bring posi-

tive changing for humanity.I want to thank the US embassy

for offering me such a unique

experience, as I also wish to

thank Mr.Rafik Fadel for being

friend, orienteer and father

more than being just a chap-

eron.

Arif Abdeljalil

My name is Arif Abdeldjalil, aModel United Nation delegate2011 and I would like to sharemy experience through thesenotes on how the MUN confer-

ence meant change for me.

Diplomacy is a way to referhow a leader is wise and smart.MUN conference gave us theopportunity to simulate theUnited Nation Organization, beopen on international relationand debating in diplomatic waysand get used to diplomatic vo-cabulary and behavior.

My experience started with amock conference in the USembassy in Algiers. In this pri-mary training I got an idea onhow the conference would look

like, we also had the chance tomeet with the Vice ambassadorand the embassy staff, I learnedthat everyone who works indiplomacy are ready to dealwith every kind of pressure

daily.MUN2011 conference tookplace in wonderful DOHA.There, I met other MUN dele-gates from 350 countries repre-senting different countries. Ipersonally was representingCosta Rica, under Economy andSocial committee (ECOSOC); Ihad to know everything aboutthe country that I was repre-senting and be familiar with thedifferent issues that it is facing. Iwas eager to start my position

paper and opening speech.To be honest my first day was

not great, I was under stress,but after participating withother delegates in teamwork tosubmit our resolution, we ap-plied our skills and knowledge,after 2days of hard work we

passed our resolution and I wasmentioned as a Co-Submitter. Inthe 3rd day, I submitted ourresolution as a Main Submitterwith 38 Co-Submitter and inorder to have China, Russia andUnited State of America votingfor you, one needs to make lot

of efforts in convincing them.Beside all the serious work Imade also new friends, and I hadfun especially when my commit-tee made a flashback for UNHumanity Right Council means;

we went to their meeting roomwith cooperation of chairs, thenwe started dancing in middle ofthe room, we were the firstcommittee on the history ofMUN editions doing a flashback.Outside work place we discov-ered the beauty of DOHA. Ivisited Islamic Museum, George-town University, Educationalcity, City Center, Villaggio mall,Souk Waqif and many gorgeous

places.After developing our debatingskills during 4days anddiscussing different issues, it wastime to participate in CulturalNight to show our own culture,

traditions, dresses.Being an MUN delegate it hasbeen a big honor and a special

achievement in my career, they

MUN Model Nations

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

February 2011Volume 2, Issue 15

El-Djazair Alumni Newsletter

Inside this issue:

MUN 1

SU MarchingBand

2

BTL 3

Access ToAmericanHistory

3

Between TheLinesAnnouncement

4

During MUN meetings.

Arif and other delegates debating.


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The famous Marching Bandfrom Southern University ofBaton Rouge, Louisiana, visited

Algeria for the first time totour in different cities, per-forming with their well knownDrum Line. A never-seen-before performance thatgrabbed the Algerian publicsattention, giving a taste of theAmerican culture and heritage.The band is made up of 14drummers and 3 managers,Lead by the Band DirectorLawrence Jackson, who allwere visiting the region for thefirst time, a thing that added

more significance to their visit,as they all wanted to give thebest performance to mark thisevent.The band gave different repre-sentations in different loca-tions, Algiers, Bentalha, SidiFredj and Tiaret. Each of theshow was particular as theaudiences differed from adults,kids or Muslim Scouts. One ofthe most important ones wasthe performance they gave inthe premises of FOREM, an

Algerian NGO that works withwidows of victims of terrorists

attacks and also providing psy-

chological support to familiesthat suffered from terrorism.An outstanding performance

cheered by this very specialaudience but, more specifically,left great memories in bothsides. The band also performedalong with the youth from theMuslim Scouts, who made anastonishing performance show-ing their skills to the S.U.Marching Band.Another special show wasgiven in Tiaret, a city located inthe west of Algeria, where 600people attended the event and

gave a warm welcome to theband. The S.U. Marching Bandlast performance was in Algiersduring a Basket ball gamewhere 1200 fans watched andexperienced the peculiar styleof the American drum bandsand the spirit of Louisianathrough the music, dance andsynchronization of the so calledand famous Human Jukebox.This visit and performanceswere a great success not onlyartistically but also to mark the

month of February as the be-ginning of the Black HistoryMonths celebrations as the

Southern University is consid-ered to be a historically BlackUniversity. The band left Alge-

ria to the U.S. with bags full ofmemories to end their tour inthe region after their perform-ances in both Morocco andAlgeria.

The cultural exchange through

arts and performances proved

its efficiency, as this sort of

events and visits have always

attracted the interest of all

generations in Algeria and in-

troduced different aspects of

the American culture thatwere, so far, unknown to the

Algerian young public.

A.B

S.U. Marching Band, Drums & Culture

Introducing

different

aspects of the

American

Culture.

Page 2 El-Djazair Alumni Newsletter

Mr. Lawrence Jackson min-gling with young membersof the Muslim Scouts.

The Drum Line performing inAlgiers.

The Band posing with members ofthe Algerian Muslim Scouts.

The S.U. Marching Band at theFOREM association.


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For the fourth year in a row,the International Writing Pro-gram, in cooperation with the

Iowa Young Writers Stu-dio (IYWS), will host theBetween the Lines (BTL) pro-gram. Twelve young writersfrom Arabic-speaking coun-tries, aged 16-19, will be invitedto the University of Iowa,where they will participate inwriting workshops, visit localsights, and deepen their under-standing of the United Statesthrough interactions with fel-low students and the commu-nity. Workshops will be led by

teachers who are respectedwriters in their own right.Accommodations are in Cur-rier Hall, a dormitory withineasy walking distance of theWriters Workshop, the Inter-national Writing Program, andother UI sites. Boys and girlsreside in separate areas underthe supervision of adult chaper-ones.

Participating students will havetheir travel, room/board, andmost cultural expenses cov-

ered.BTL is sponsored throughgrant funds provided by theBureau of Educational and Cul-tural Affairs of the US StateDepartment.

20102010's Between the Lines wel-comed participants from moreplaces than ever before. Inaddition to Lebanon and theWest Bank, students came

from Algeria, Bahrain, Libya,Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Gaza.Their classes were entirelyworkshop-based, with Arabic inthe morning (led by teachersTarek Eltayeb and Dunya Mik-hail) and English in the after-noon. They shared themselvesand their cultures with theirAmerican peers via language(an "Arabic 101" session, a

translation class), literature (aninternational salon), and per-formance (the Friday night

talent show). From small townsto the big city, these partici-pants experienced a great dealof what America has to offer.

iwp.uiowa.edu

See back page for more details

taste of the long path followedby the African-American thatended up with the Civil Rightmovement of Dr. Martin Lu-

ther King.Schubert prepared briefings for

the students to prime them for

the discussion; Access teachers

also spoke to the students

about the cases before the

session to discuss and intro-

duce them to new vocabulary.

Plessy v. Ferguson is an ex-

tremely important court case

in that it gave legal standing to

the idea of separate but equal.

This doctrine required that any

separate facilities had to be of

equal quality. However, as seg-

regation grew in the South this

was often not the case. The

Plessy decision would be used

In celebration of Black HistoryMonth, Vice Consul MelissaSchubert seized the opportu-nity to give a presentation tothe Access students in Algiers,and the chosen topic was oneof the reference events duringthe segregation period in theUSA, through the case of Plessyv. Ferguson and Brown v.Board of Education of Topeka,two cases are representative ofthe fight of African-American

to gain their rights.These two cases are within Ms.Schuberts expertise as prior to

joining the Foreign Service; she

worked as corporate attorney.The presentation was highlyinteresting and it gave thisyoung audience not only anidea on a crucial period in theAmerican history, but also a

as a precedent until 1954 with

the Supreme Court decision in

Brown v Board of Education.

Students reacted to the cases

and how they affected race

relations in the United States.

The discussion that followed

was successful, as students

improved and enriched their

vocabulary and use of English, it

more specifically, enriched

their image of the period andhistory, a thing that encouraged

them to compare with the

situation in other countries and

more specifically, in Algeria

during the war for independ-

ence.

M.S & A.B

Between The Lines July 2011

Access to American History

From small

towns to the big

city,

participants

experienced a

great deal of

what America

has to offer.

Page 3Volume 2, Issue 15

Arabic-language writing work-shop

During presentation with

Access students.
http://www.uiowa.edu/~iyws/http://www.uiowa.edu/~iyws/http://www.uiowa.edu/~iyws/http://www.uiowa.edu/~iyws/http://www.uiowa.edu/~iyws/http://www.uiowa.edu/~iyws/


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U.S. Embassy Algiershttp://algiers.usembassy.gov/

Alumni Coordinator/Educational Advisor at the U.S.Embassy

[email protected]

What is the Between The Lines writing contest?Between the Lines invites young aspiring writers from Arabic speaking countries in the Middle Eastand North Africa between the ages of 16-19 to the University of Iowa to spend two weeks honingtheir creative writing skills and interacting with American students of the same age range. The inter-

national students will be accompanied by adult chaperones. The summer session of Between theLines (BTL) will take place July 10-25, 2011. During the two-week BTL program, students will takeclasses in English with their American counterparts. They will also participate in writing workshop (inArabic) with BTL faculty. Chaperones will enroll in a week-long Iowa Summer Writing Festival course

(in English) that will also include American teachers.Who can apply?Students:Must be between the ages of 16 and 19 as of July 10, 2011.Must be Proficient in Arabic and English (reading, writing, and speaking).The ideal candidates should be able to:

Demonstrate an interest in and ability to write creatively (prose and/or poetry in both Arabicand English)

Fully engage their imaginations in a variety of class settingsConfidently work alongside other BTL students in Arabic-language classes as well as American

students in English-language classesEach applicant must provide the following:

7-8 pages of prose and/or poetry written in Arabic7-8 pages of prose and/or poetry written in EnglishA one-paragraph personal statement (in English) describing why they are interested in

participating in BTL.Copies of passport information pages valid at least 6 months after the program ends.The completed application form available on the embassy website:http://algiers.usembassy.gov/academic_exchanges.html

Chaperones:

Must be between the ages of 25 and 40 as of July 10, 2011Must be Proficient in Arabic and English (reading, writing, and speaking)Must be Reliable, mature, and willing and able to take on the dual responsibilities of their own pro-

gram and the overall duties of overseeing the students.

The ideal candidate should be:

A teacher who is interested in creative writing and has not had a previous exposure to the U.S.Willing to assist BTL faculty and IWP staff with projects related to promoting creative writing

and the teaching of creative writing in the Middle EastAble to serve as Arabic-speaking liaison between the BTL students and English-speaking students

and staff at the University of IowaAble to fully participate in a formal English language program on creative writing teaching meth-

odsAble to Demonstrate experience working with young people, particularly teens.

Each applicant must provide the following:

A resume/CV (in English)

A brief statement of purpose describing his/her goals for the program and how his/her par-ticipation can benefit the program (in English).

Copies of passport information pages valid at least 6 months after the program ends (ifavailable).

The completed application form available on the embassy website:http://algiers.usembassy.gov/academic_exchanges.html

How do I apply?Applications to be submitted electronically at [email protected] to submit applications is March 19th, 2011. Finalists:Will be invited for an interview at the embassyMust bring a copy of their Arabic and English writing samples to the interview.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Between the Lines

Volume 2, Issue 15
http://algiers.usembassy.gov/academic_exchanges.htmlhttp://algiers.usembassy.gov/academic_exchanges.htmlhttp://algiers.usembassy.gov/academic_exchanges.htmlhttp://algiers.usembassy.gov/academic_exchanges.htmlmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://algiers.usembassy.gov/academic_exchanges.htmlhttp://algiers.usembassy.gov/academic_exchanges.html

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El-Djazair Alumni Newsletter - February 2011