ing writer. Both newspapers used Houda‟s own words to describe her

Iowa experience. El Djazair Alumni Newsletter is

publishing in this month‟s issue Houda‟s complete article, written to share with others this once-in-a-

lifetime experience.

Houda Ghenim is the first Algerian participant in the „Between the

Lines‟ program held at the Univer-sity of Iowa. Two weeks of intense creativity that this young „writer‟

shared with other talented writers of her age, who came from different countries, the event was also an

opportunity to share with American students the passion for writing. Houda is a student of medicine from the University of Oran and was

selected, among number of appli-cants, based on her writing skills upon producing a piece of writing to

explain her motivations in taking part in such a program. The selec-tion was made by a jury at the U.S.

Embassy in Algiers.

This month, Houda made it into the newspapers. Her experience was

related in an extraordinary story, which was inspiring and special. El Watan, one of the best selling news-

papers, emphasized in their article, “Good News from Iowa”, on the impact that the BTL program had on

the life of this young student but also the role such events can play in building friendship between people from all over the world. L‟Echo

d‟Oran, another Algerian newspa-per, wrote an article titled “A Girl from Oran in Uncle Sam’s Country”, in

which they related the success story of this local girl who made her dreams come true, the friendships

she made and the experience she gained, referring to her as a promis-

Algerian BTL Participant Makes Headlines

Between the Lines - July 2010

Following up on their successful debut, the International Writing

Program in cooperation with the Iowa Young Writers‟ Studio (IYWS)

hosted a second Between the Lines

(BTL) program. Twelve young writ-ers from Arabic-speaking countries, aged 16-19, were invited to the

University of Iowa, where they participated in writing workshops and literature seminars (in both English and Arabic), visited local

sights, and deepened their under-standing of the United States through interactions with fellow

students and the community. Work-shops were led by teachers who are respected writers in their own right.

Students in the program participated in workshops throughout their stay.

Just about every writing program offers some variation of the work-

shop; it is the only way for writers to get direct feedback from readers.

Workshops inevitably stimulate in-

depth, thoughtful meditations on the work of writers. Instructors en-sured that workshops presented a

supportive environment. To write, one must read. One of the goals of BTL is to make sure

that participants understand their place in this tradition. Instructors designed seminars around the books

they love, books that taught or amazed them. The emphasis of these classes was for students to

read as writers; published work will be scrutinized for what can be gleaned about craft. All seminars

included a broad range of readings.

BTL is sponsored through a grant provided by the Bureau of Educa-

tional and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

September 2010 Volume I, Issue 10

El-Djazair Alumni Newsletter

Inside this issue:

Between the Lines -

July 2010 1

Between the Lines,

A Tale To Tell. 2

Access Graduation

in Batna and Con-

stantine

3

New American Cor-

ner in Ouargla 3

Democracy Photo

Challenge - Algerian

Winner

4

Between the Lines Participants

This year, I was lucky to participate in an outstanding program, a pre-

sent of heaven, a blessing, a discov-ery of the self, a personal adven-ture full of words for the sake of

knowledge.

Only the name of the program had so much inspired me "between the lines" when I knew that I had won

the competition, I was in a kind of trance, my dream was about to come true. I went away in the kingdom of the misunderstood

people, a paradise for which I looked, in the temple of writers,

poets, philosophers and thinkers.

This temple existed in the middle-west of the United States, in Iowa City, which for several years has

gathered writers from all over the world. In spite of its appearance or of what one might think about it on

the surface, this city was immense for me. It is unlimited in space and the time in the common and fath-

omless imagination of my spirit and those who participated with me,

not only those of the BTL but also the Americans of the IYWS who

are all extraordinary persons.

We look for words, as archaeolo-

gists look for vestiges, what is hidden behind the curvatures of letters, plunging into all the open-

ings that are offered by punctua-tion. We were all young writers stemming from various Arab coun-tries, this is what makes the pro-

gram more interesting, because I like the theatrical writing, the knowledge of the other dialects,

new expressions and local proverbs of the other countries. In addition, we had the honor to have very

good professors who are writers, too. The day always begins with what we called " the stretch " every

day a professor gives us some exercises to stimulate our imagina-tion, as for example the invention

of new characters from celebrities, or to write a poem according to

the letters of the alphabet…

After that we had our Arabic course with Mr. Tarek Eltayeb as

well as Mrs. Dunya Mikhail who

were also encouraging us to write on our feelings; for example the

first day Mr. Tarek took us to see a painting drawn in one of the walls of Iowa and we had to describe it

either with poetry or a story. The day after each one of us presented his work, we listened to each other

enthusiastically because the differ-ence we perceived created an image, a magnificent mosaic. The

second experience was to live and to write on the life of a person

with a dollar only in pocket.

Besides these fantastic adventures, we were reading a lot of Arabic,

interesting texts which we criti-cized, debated and translated. I

realized during this program that I

had to enrich my knowledge of Arabic literature, as so many bril-liant writers are to be discovered.

We do not know them because we are still suffering from the effects of colonialism and the breaches which

are left on our language which

remains an authentic treasure.

The afternoons were devoted to English courses, also very interest-

ing, they allowed us to develop our spirit as a critic. Each one of us

had to present a story and the rest of the group had to read and criti-cize it. The young American writ-

ers liked our stories which are very different from theirs that shows the variety of cultures that created a

very happy and fascinating atmos-phere. In the evenings we had the chance to meet Arabic writers who were reading from their novels,

they were sharing with us their personal experiences, it was fasci-

nating as all artists go through

unpredictable lives.

My journey ended by visiting Chi-cago, it‟s an amazing city we wrote our last paper there. We were

ready to return to our countries with great joy and very proud to have learned so much in such a

short period of time. Nevertheless, we returned with an enormous luggage of memories, mixed with a

big sadness caused by the separa-

tion with all our new friends.

I would like to thank the Ambassa-dor of the United States Mr. David Pearce for this magnificent journey

which will be engraved forever in

my memory.

Houda Ghenim

Between the Lines, A Tale to Tell

‘We look for words,

as archaeologists

look for vestiges,

what is hidden

behind the

curvatures of

letters, plunging

into all the

openings that are

offered by

punctuation’

Page 2 El-Djazair Alumni Newsletter

“A Girl From Oran in Uncle Sam’s Country”

Houda Ghenim, First from Left, Happily Representing

Algeria

U.S. Embassy Algiers currently has eight Access school programs

around Algeria. During July and August, two graduations took place in Batna and Constantine. More

than 40 students graduated from the two-year program. Information Officer John Brown spoke to

graduates in Batna and Cultural Affairs Officer Marissa Scott spoke

to students in Constantine.

The Access Program in Algeria now boasts more than 700 gradu-

ates since the program started in

2004. Students who participate in the Access program in Algeria have

the opportunity to be selected for programs that allow them to prac-tice their English including the

Model United Nations program in

Qatar, the Youth Leadership Pro-gram, and the Empower Peace

Women2Women program. Sev-eral Access students also apply for the NESA and Fulbright scholar-

ships.

Through the promotion of English

language learning, the Access pro-

gram provides enhanced educa-

tional and work place opportunities

for disadvantaged Algerian high

school students. The program also

portrays a positive view of the

United States and undermines

ideological support of terrorism by

giving Algerian youth unfiltered

access to true accounts of Amer-

ica's diverse peoples. Moreover,

the mission of Access is to educate

students for a life of fulfillment and

accomplishment by meeting global

and societal needs.

successful programs. Ambassador Pearce was very impressed by the

dynamic and proactive students and teachers of the Hassi Access School, as well as by their excellent

English skills.

It was great pleasure for the Am-bassador to visit a city of such significant cultural and historic

heritage, and to be received by such generous hosts. The Embassy extends its thanks to the Ouargla community for their hospitality,

enthusiasm, and dedication to developing this important partner-

ship.

Ambassador Pearce was received by the Wali of Ouargla, Mr. Ahmed

Malfouf, and visited Kasdi Merbah University where he met the Rec-tor, Mr. Ahmed Boutarfaia, to

discuss opportunities for coopera-tion and exchange. In the after-noon, Ambassador Pearce officially

opened the new American Corner of Ouargla. Located in Kasdi Mer-bah University, the American Cor-ner is a space where students and

other members of the community can gather to learn about the United States and its people, cul-

ture, history, and society. The Corner offers English, French, and Arabic books on various subjects

including history, politics, econom-ics, trade, media, sciences, educa-tion, and English language learning.

The Corner also provides com-puters with free Internet access, a collection of reference CDs for

those interested in doing research, and audiovisual equipment so

guests can watch American movies

and documentaries.

At the end of his visit, Ambassador

Pearce attended the graduation ceremony of 40 students from Hassi ACCESS School of Ouargla,

which opened its doors in 2004 and joined the ACCESS program in 2007. The ACCESS program pro-

vides English-language training for disadvantaged high school students, and is one of the Embassy‟s most

Access Graduation in Batna and Constantine

New American Corner in Ouargla

Page 3 Volume 1, Issue 10

Graduates from Batna (above)

and Constantine (below)

Ambassador David Pearce and Mr. Ahmed Boutarfaia, Rector of

the University of Ouargla, during the Opening Ceremony

U.S. Embassy Algiers

http://algiers.usembassy.gov/

Contact your

Alumni Coordinator &

Educational Adviser:

Boussoufaa@state.gov

Organization

Democracy Photo Challenge - Algerian Winner

‘Democracy is…to live in freedom’

Mohamed Kaouche

In September 2010, the list of winners for the „Democracy Photo Challenge‟ were announced on the america.gov

website. Winners were listed by regions, and one of the two winners in the Near East region was Mohamed

Kaouche from Algeria.

The Democracy Photo Challenge is part of the global Democracy is… conversation that leverages social networks

and creative challenges to allow people around the world to share, consider, debate, and learn from diverse per-

spectives on democracy. The Democracy Photo Challenge was inspired by the Democracy Video Challenge, an

annual contest launched in 2008 asking the world‟s citizens to complete the phrase “Democracy is…” through

short online videos.

Mohamed Kaouche, the Algerian winner, is a 27-year-old native of Algeria who developed an interest in news, art

and photography at an early age. He earned a degree in photography and has worked as a freelance photographer

for news organizations and advertising agencies.

The Prize?

Special exhibition of the winning photo at the United Nations and at galleries in New York and Los Angeles.

Facebook:

U.S.Embassy Algiers-Alumni &

Education Advising