November 2009 Journey of Understanding
WET WET WET!
No, it’s not the famous Scottish pop rock band from the 1980s, but rather the Scottish ‘Journey of Understanding’ experienced by 24 young people from around the world, which had the wettest, coldest and windiest weather ever to be seen on an Encompass programme. 
Indeed, after 5 days of climbing trees and mountains, building rafts, swinging across rivers and jumping in the lake, all in the pouring rain, the participants of the November 09 ‘Journey’ were starting to think that Scotland was always like this. However, their hard work, enthusiasm and perseverance paid off and Mother Nature stepped in to lend a helping hand, lifting the grey clouds and the rain to reveal some spectacular views of Loch Eil and snow-capped Ben Nevis. 
But seeing the best that Scotland has to offer was not the only reason that these 24 young people from London, Israel, Palestine, the US and Indonesia came together for 9 days. They came with the expectations of meeting people from totally different cultures, religions and backgrounds to their own, from different continents and different walks of life, to confront one another with questions, to discover new perspectives and to make new friends. 
For the Israeli and Palestinian participants, this was an opportunity to sit together and talk about the conflict they are exposed to every day, something they are not able to do at home, despite living so near to each other. For everyone involved, a space was created to expose and challenge the preconceptions existing within the group, and to think about how impressions and opinions of other nations, religions, races and cultures are formed.
Posted Friday December 4, 2009
