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Provo High School participates in Arabic study abroad program

Four Provo High School students are returning to school this year with a unique perspective of the Arabic language they have been learning.

The four students and their Arabic teacher recently returned from a three-week trip to the West Bank, sponsored by Relief International. The group has previously brought Palestinian teens to the United States, but the experience was a rare opportunity for the Provo High students.

“This is the first time that they’ve actually brought American students over,” said A B, the school’s Arabic teacher.

B said she became involved with the organization last year, which enabled her to connect her students with Palestinian youth participating in Relief International programs across the world.

The Palestinian youth would speak to her students through videos, and her students would send their video correspondence back. After a year of learning Arabic, the students were invited by the organization to visit Palestine and meet the youth with whom they had been speaking.

The trip, which lasted from mid-July to early August, was a good opportunity for the students to learn first-hand about Arabic culture, B said.

“We were learning about people and interacting with them, but when we actually stayed in the homes, I think it solidified the exchange,” she said.

The two boys, A E and J P, stayed together in one home, and the two girls, K O and A F, stayed in another. Each day, the group would meet their teacher and visit different organizations in cities around Palestine, learning about art, music and other culture. B said the more-independent living situations helped the students to get a better feel for the way of life in Palestine.

“We learn about the culture, then do it ourselves,” she said.

B said the trip was an important learning experience for her students and the Palestinians they met. Both cultures tend to have strong opinions about the other, but meeting in person helps both sides to see they are actually very similar.

“I’m guessing it will be a life-changing experience for them,” she said. “They really enjoyed it.”

Provo High School Principal Sam Ray said that while the school did not sponsor the trip, the new Arabic language class opened the door for new experiences for the students. The school will be offering Arabic, Chinese and Russian this year — all languages deemed critical by the U.S. Department of Defense. With current political tensions in many parts of the world, Ray said understanding such languages and cultures is important for Americans.

“I think it gives them an insight into the world that they wouldn’t have otherwise,” he said.

A E, a 10th-grader who took part in the trip, said the amount of security in the country was surprising to him, and he knows more about the turmoil in the region now that he has visited. Evans said he enjoyed visiting the Dead Sea and seeing the large wall separating Israel and the West Bank.

“I now understand Arabic better because I actually went over there,” he said.

K O said she enjoyed meeting Palestinian teens and finding similarities with her own culture. She said she was surprised to find they enjoy swimming and soccer and other activities that American youth enjoy. O said getting to know another culture was fun for her, and she enjoyed learning Arabic better in her time abroad.

“I’ve been living in two cultures my whole life,” she said. “So to just see a third one, I love this!”

O said she believes many Americans are sheltered and do not understand other cultures throughout the world. She said this trip and others are important for other cultures to understand Americans, and for Americans to return home and educate others about their experiences.

“I think that one person can change the world,” she said.