Casey Zager, 14, of Longview thought the Arab teens would be arrogant. Which is pretty much what Shatha Bandak, 16, of Amman, Jordan, expected of the American teens at Beyond Borders: Arabs and Americans in the 21st Century, a program run by Seeds of Peace at its International Camp held in Otisfield, Maine, at the end of August.
But after two weeks of games, role-playing, listening to music—American and Arabic—belly-dancing and, at one point, falling out of a canoe, the teens bonded.
Which is the point of the nonprofit organization, which provides direct communication among teenagers in order to foster understanding needed to build a peaceful future.
Six Texas teens were invited to be part of the dialogue of 65 young leaders from the United States, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, Egypt and Jordan. Here are thoughts from some of the Texans and their Arab bunkmates.
Shatha Salim Bandak, 16, Amman, Jordan
What surprised you the most?
They were so welcoming and friendly.
What do you have in common?
Same basic way of living (hanging with friends, listening to music, going to school, studying for exams, playing sports, etc.).
How are you different?
The background and the cultures.
Did anything change your mind about any issue?
The color games made me change my mind about certain people. I thought they would be arrogant and wouldn’t talk to me, but we became friends. It happened because we were unified under one goal.
What was the most important thing you learned?
I had a thought that it was the government [causing problems].
Yazid Al Saeedi, 16, Sana’a, Yemen
What surprised you most?
That they [the American teens] are very helpful and they are ready to listen and talk.
What do you have in common?
I feel that we are almost the same. We like the same things and hate the same things.
How are you different?
I think that the only difference is the religious difference. There were some disagreements between us at the beginning, but then we started to understand each other.
Did anything change your mind about any issue?
Yes, dialogue sessions. The reason why is that they are very good people and we have much in common.
What was the most important thing you learned?
I want to tell them don’t judge people until you know them better, and don’t hate anyone because of his government or people.
Safia Abdel Hamid Yousef, 16, Cairo, Egypt
What surprised you most? That they [the American teens] are not that different than me.
What do you have in common?
A person in my bunk and I both sing in school.
How are you different?
Religious issues. Like saying Islam promotes violence.
Did you change your mind about any issue?
Yes, that I need to be more open-minded. My bunkmates are very good friends and we will keep in touch.
What was the most important thing you learned?
Live life to the fullest. Don’t generalize and give everyone a chance.
Autumn Reeves, 16, Kennedale
What surprised you most?
I expected most of the Arab girls to wear head coverings, but only a few wear the hijab and only because they choose to. Not all of the Arabs are Muslims. One girl in my bunk from Jordan is Christian.
What do you have in common?
Each of the Arab countries have stereotypes of each other just the way people from other states do (Texas—cowboys, y’all; California—surfers). The Arab girls like makeup, cellphones and the mall. I thought they wouldn’t know anything about our music, movies, TV. But really they know more than some of the Americans. A lot of the girls said their favorite movie was Miss Congeniality.
How are you different?
I never thought I would like Arab music but there is this one song I really like.
Did you change your mind about any issue?
I learned Arabs are not terrorists. Only individual people are terrorists.
What was the most important thing you learned?
Just because someone looks a certain way or comes from a certain place or speaks a certain language doesn’t make them any less or any better. People are people.
Leead VanGruber, 16, Dallas
What surprised you most?
I was surprised to hear Ahmed in my bunk say that he believes violence is the last resort. Instead he believes in trying to understand others’ cultures.
What do you have in common?
We talked about issues facing the world and different ways of solving them. None of the Arab teens were hard to connect to. All of them were open to the comments Americans made.
How are you different?
At the beginning, most of the Middle Eastern teens were quiet. But as camp progressed they came out of their shells.
Did you change your mind about any issue?
When I first came to camp I was somewhat nervous that other campers might force me to change my views, but most Arabs and Americans accepted my points of view and respected them.
What was the most important thing you learned?
All of the Arab delegations have become close friends of mine. There is no question as to whether we will keep in touch. It’s going to happen. Either e-mail or video conferencing will help us.
George Brown, 15, Fort Worth
What surprised you most?
All the Arab teens command the English language so easily.
What do you have in common?
Arab teens listen to a lot of hip-hop music and have a lot of the same values, like love your family, respect your friends and talking to each other is good.
How are you different?
I am not that religious and praying seven times a day is new to me.
Did you change your mind about any issue?
I did change an opinion on life. When my friend Makhmoud was trying to teach me Arabic, he taught me how to say, ‘I am doing good.’ I asked him, How do you say ‘I am doing bad’? He said that in Islam he believes that as long as you are alive, you are never having a bad day.
What was the most important thing you learned?
I realized that I am here to fight ignorance. If it is my job to combat such a hideous foe, it is a fight worth fighting.