Working on Project Narratives is a great experience. Before I joined the team I only knew whatever information was available in the media about the situation in Israel and Palastine. But in the news you only got bits and pieces about happenings far away. Through the project I not only got a whole new perspective about the topic, I was also able to learn about the conflict through an entirely different approach than through textbooks, newspapers and television. By hearing from people directly who are affected by the conflict, I saw the conflict in a personal way and was able to connect to it. It wasn’t so far away anymore. The conflict got faces from real people who shared their personal experiences with us. This is what Narratives means to me and what I see as a goal for the project. Bringing a situation closer to the people who are far away from it, but also to those who are directly affected by it and give everyone the chance to understand a little better.

Furthermore I was able to attend a conference on conflict resolution in Virginia, USA. It was the first time I attended a conference as a presenter and was able to speak about our work and achievements so far with another team member. This opportunity was also a good learning experience for me and helped me develop myself a bit more. While working on the project I was introduced to other tools, work strategies and theory knowledge about concepts of interviewing and film production. This was very interesting for me because it was a field I hadn’t had much contact to before and maybe would never had if I hadn’t joined the team.

All in all I’m grateful for everything I was able to learn and all the experiences I was able to make with the team. I hope we can spread the video and raise awareness by showing both sides of the conflict equally – by showing that the people behind the conflict aren’t that different.