Peggy Gish, Christian Peacemaker Teams, 28/07/07. Even before the sun appears over the hills to the east of At-Tuwani, in the South Hebron Hills, the village is waking up to the sounds of roosters and donkeys, and of sheep and goats being milked.
As I get up from my sleeping pad on the roof adjoining the small one-room house with tiny attached kitchen and toilet structures, shared by members of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) and Operation Dove (OD), our neighbor from the stone house next door is already up and
at work.
By 6:45am, we grab our hats, cameras, water bottles, and go to accompany shepherds in two valleys just below the Ma'on (Israeli) Settlement and the Havot Ma'on outpost. In one valley, two or three boys ages 8-14 play around together while their sheep graze on dried grassesamong the thistles. In the Humra and Khoruba valleys we sit on rocks with Palestinian men in the hot sun and chat as their sheep graze nearby. We are on land that they are reclaiming after Israeli settlers had prevented them from being on it several years ago.
By mid-morning the summer heat intensifies and the shepherds take their flocks to nearby cisterns for water and back to their pens. We go back to our house in the village and use the mid day for meetings, writing reports, cleaning chores, hauling up water from the village well from the valley below.
On other days a village leader may ask CPTers to monitor a "flying" Israeli military checkpoint by the road or to take video cameras and document Israeli settlers planting trees or farming
Palestinian land near a settler outpost, but today is "quiet." Next week a summer camp begins for the children at the school and we will monitor their walking in from neighboring villages.
At 4:00pm, the hottest part of the day is over and some shepherds graze their sheep again. This time we only go to the valley to accompany the shepherd boys. Whoever stays back makes supper for the team, using a gas burner on top of a bottled gas canister to cook. Electricity from the village generator is usually on for about four hours every evening.
Some evenings a neighbor family will invite the team to share a meal. This evening a family invited us to their home for a "party" celebrating the father's passing his driving test and getting his license. When the family played taped music the children and some of the adults had fun dancing in a circle in the middle of the room.
Here after a hard day of work, the people of Tuwani have fun and, for awhile, forget their troubles.
We finish our work or personal chores before climbing onto the roof for the night. Tonight there is a nice breeze blowing making it pleasant as I lie on my mat and look up at the stars. I give
thanks for the day and for the privilege of sharing it with these strong and beautiful people.
As I get up from my sleeping pad on the roof adjoining the small one-room house with tiny attached kitchen and toilet structures, shared by members of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) and Operation Dove (OD), our neighbor from the stone house next door is already up and
at work.
By 6:45am, we grab our hats, cameras, water bottles, and go to accompany shepherds in two valleys just below the Ma'on (Israeli) Settlement and the Havot Ma'on outpost. In one valley, two or three boys ages 8-14 play around together while their sheep graze on dried grassesamong the thistles. In the Humra and Khoruba valleys we sit on rocks with Palestinian men in the hot sun and chat as their sheep graze nearby. We are on land that they are reclaiming after Israeli settlers had prevented them from being on it several years ago.
By mid-morning the summer heat intensifies and the shepherds take their flocks to nearby cisterns for water and back to their pens. We go back to our house in the village and use the mid day for meetings, writing reports, cleaning chores, hauling up water from the village well from the valley below.
On other days a village leader may ask CPTers to monitor a "flying" Israeli military checkpoint by the road or to take video cameras and document Israeli settlers planting trees or farming
Palestinian land near a settler outpost, but today is "quiet." Next week a summer camp begins for the children at the school and we will monitor their walking in from neighboring villages.
At 4:00pm, the hottest part of the day is over and some shepherds graze their sheep again. This time we only go to the valley to accompany the shepherd boys. Whoever stays back makes supper for the team, using a gas burner on top of a bottled gas canister to cook. Electricity from the village generator is usually on for about four hours every evening.
Some evenings a neighbor family will invite the team to share a meal. This evening a family invited us to their home for a "party" celebrating the father's passing his driving test and getting his license. When the family played taped music the children and some of the adults had fun dancing in a circle in the middle of the room.
Here after a hard day of work, the people of Tuwani have fun and, for awhile, forget their troubles.
We finish our work or personal chores before climbing onto the roof for the night. Tonight there is a nice breeze blowing making it pleasant as I lie on my mat and look up at the stars. I give
thanks for the day and for the privilege of sharing it with these strong and beautiful people.
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