Sabreen - Water in the West Bank - Palestinian Territories
- What three things do you do differently after your program at the East-West Center (SUSI)?
- My confidence increased and helped me lean in and take on new leadership roles. Let me share some of the things that I'm most proud of:
- I train school students about Environmental Education & Environment Tourism with local organization, I was Panelist of the Network And Community Engagement(NACE) that organized by U.S Consulate General in Jerusalem and Amideast after that workshop I become a Leader for Zero Waste Campus Project (implemented sorting bins inside the Al-Quds University Campus, awareness campaign & questionnaire).
- I train Palestinian women as a member of Arab Youth Climate Movement (AYCM) for the role of rural women in addressing the climate change issue in the Palestinian territories that is held by Heinrich Boell Foundation and Natuf Organization for Environment & Community Development. I organized Earth Hour Event with awareness campaign At Al-Quds University Campus as a member of Earth Hour Network organization.
- I volunteer at chemical and biological analytical center as scientific researcher and master student so I had a chance to train university and master students and to be teacher assistance in the center and to take student in field trips to explain the current situation that Palestinian environment have and what is the main environmental problems that we many of citizen are suffering from.I present 3 scientific paper in these conferences and participate in one: The 4th International Conference on Energy & Environmental Protection in Sustainable Development (ICEEP 2016), Hebron, Palestine. By scientific paper about Improvement of Large Scale Wastewater Treatment Plant Using Epuvalisation Technique., The 4th Conference of Biotechnology Research and Application in Palestine, Arab American University, Palestine. By scientific paper about Integrating Micelle-Clay complex Filter within Advanced Membrane Wastewater Treatment Plant., Palestinian Technical University, scientific seminar about wastewater and reuse using epuvalisation technique that help poor communities., Nanotechnology for Water Treatment and Solar Energy Applications Muscat, about Treatment of secondary wastewater using Epuvalisation system.
What impact did the program have on your career?
Being part of SUSI Alumni give me the chance to help my friend Amjad to Organize a stimulation model of SUSI Environment in our country called Middle East Environmental Leadership Program (MEELP), during this program for two years I volunteer to train university student from different universities to be able to improve their ideas and develop their projects, and also to be leader in their community and to be able to present their ideas and projects by teaching them communication and marketing skills.
When we were in U.S part of the program let us to deal with local organization in our preparation for projects, this help me to build communication skills in professional way so it was easy for me to deal with organization when I came back to my country.
SUSI Environment and my visit to U.S was one of the reasons that I was accepted to work in Bridge Academy to teach students about science and biology, so I become more certain to teach students to think out of the box and to have education and communication skills because these will be the basics that they can built their personality on it and become an active members in their life.
What issues are you most passionate about in your daily life?
I am very concern about environment specially it's my study, so I feel it in my veins that I need to take every chance I have to change or to aware people to be more conservative and consider the environment in their daily activities, our earth will not last for next generations as we have it, so next generation have the right to have a sustainable earth with enough resources. In Palestine we deal with water shortage, we don't control our water resources due to Israeli occupation, we don't have enough landfill dumping sites for all citizen due to legislations and occupation obstacles and also we don't have wastewater treatments for all citizen, that's why I focus on these topics and my graduation seminar in BA was about waste management and my maser thesis is about wastewater treatment as alternative of fresh water.
Every day is a new day is another chance to change your life this quote made my year at school because when you inspire people they will be able to inspire other people and the circle goes on, in this way you will affect many people. Every morning students wait for me to come in the main door to say hi and tell me how they love science because of me, how they want to be like me and how I become a model for them so they want to be like me when they grown up, even kids that I don't teach them they are waiting to be in a higher grade to be able for me to teach them and I was proud of myself when parents tell me that their children change and become initiative, socialist and their personality and grades improved than before.
How have you come to see leadership?
I believe that we need to start by ourselves if we want to change something, we cannot change the whole world in one night to be perfect world but we can change humans who can change the world by their actions and activities, to invest in people it's very important and you can see your investment after time then you will be proud of yourself, this is what I focus on these days to invest in students who will become leaders one day and they will have the chance to change our world for better. When plant a seed with care and concern then it will become a flowered plant the same for skills and ideas, if we succeed to put the right skills in student minds' this student when he grownup will be able to make a different.
