Nofouz leading the kids in their homemade version of Twister

Inspired by the spirit of volunteerism she experience while on the YES program, Nofouz Maswada (YES 2016-2017, West Bank, placed by AFS in Portland, OR) has been devoting her time to community service in her hometown of Hebron. Nofouz was motivated by the impact of youth volunteer work she saw while in the United States. As a member of the Key Club and a volunteer at the Outdoor School, Nofouz learned how to give back to her community in new ways.

Nofouz has volunteered at camps before her time on the YES program, and in the short time since coming home she has volunteered for more than 55 hours at the Palestinian Child’s Home Club. While volunteering, she realized how much she had gained from her exchange year. By being an active camp leader at the Outdoor School, Nofouz learned many new camp songs and games that she was able to bring back home with her. Nofouz has been working to translate the games she learned from English to Arabic, and even creating her own versions!

One of Nofouz greatest successes was her recreation of Twister. She says, “my host family liked board and card games, and in Hebron we don't really have this one fun game called Twister, which I used to play with my host sister. I came up with the idea of making one with the kids, I made them cut some shapes, glue them on a big piece of paper and have fun!”

In addition to introducing the kids to new games, Nofouz works to make them food and clean the camp facility. Now, she is also working at a camp for teens. Although it is more difficult to work with kids closer to her age, Nofouz is excited to be gaining new skills for all age groups. For the teens, she is drawing on activities and ideas inspired by her chaperones from her college tour in the United States.

Before beginning her final year of high school, Nofouz plans to launch her own English teaching camp called “Three Days in English.” She has partnered with the ACHEF (Association d'échange culturel Hébron France) in order to implement this three day English language camp.

Nofouz plans to continue serving her community and being an active member of the YES alumni group in the West Bank. She says that “the best thing about being home after coming back from the YES program is that I feel responsible toward my society, I feel like it's my responsibility to use what I have learned in my exchange year to make my society a better place. I'm so happy that I could use what I have learned in my exchange year in a way that helps my community.”

                              Above: Nofouz with her host family in Oregon