Meet Basema, a 23-year-old young woman from Asira-Nablus. Basema is a life skills trainer on the PTS curriculum. She graduated from An-Najah National University in 2021 with a diploma in social work.
Basema has been active since high school. She says, “I’m on a constant journey to build on my human experience as well as my career path.” But I mentioned the overall human experience first because it’s what shapes me as a human being first, especially in this field since I work with kids, especially marginalized groups. Basema says that playing a role in empowering youth has actually empowered her as well. She says, “Each time I give a training, I give and I receive equally.” “Those kids teach me lessons for life each time.” The TOT trainings have broadened her perspective and advanced her knowledge. Basema has gained new skills and learned the keys to broadening her perspective and having an inclusive vision as a trainer through the TOT and PTS trainings she has completed, which has played a significant role in making her a better trainer with clearer and more solid plans that fit the context she is serving wherever it is. She talked about her last PTS training in particular and how “it was different.” This PTS took place in Ain Albida village with a group of female youth. Ein al-Beida is a small Palestinian village in Tuba’s governorate in the northeastern West Bank. Basema described her experience giving PTS training in the village as a new experience in a different, challenging environment, which she is not used to. The village mostly has a conservative background, and that was clear to Basema as she faced some challenges through the training days, especially in terms of the topics she would discuss with the girls, as they would not understand them or that they were not familiar with such topics in a male-dominated environment. The girls were very shy and naive, yet the training has helped them to initiate advanced steps and gain new skills, which now make them active members of society, better listeners, better planners, and more confident. It is also important to mention that during the training period, Basema used to take risky detours that were not safer options to reach her destination as her city, Nablus, was under an open-ended siege, but they were the only option available in such circumstances that resulted from the apartheid system, Israel implements every day. Her daily journey from Ain Albida to Nablus or vice versa was a risky one, but she challenged her reality and these inhuman circumstances in order to benefit these girls.
