Canada

David

David was born in Taiwan (Formosa).  He was a Presbyterian minister in his homeland before he went to St, Paul University (Catholic University) in Ottawa, Canada and trained to become a chaplain.  He served a Chinese church in Ottawa for 16 years before he was called to pastor the Taiwanese churches in Toronto.  David retired from the Presbyterian Church in Canada last year. He was called to be an interim minister of a Philippine-Chinese church in Toronto after his retirement.  He will be 80 years old in 13 years.  He has one son and two daughters.

David is placed in Jayyous.

Susan

Susan is a consultant who maintains a private practice in Conflict Management in Ottawa. She is a life-long member of the United Church of Canada.  She completed a Graduate Program in Conflict Resolution at Carleton University in Ottawa.  She is happily married to Robert, is the mother of four, step-mother of two, and grandmother of two, with a third grandchild on the way.  She has a keen interest in keeping fit by running, skiing and swimming.

Susan is placed in Bethlehem. 

Germany

Christina

Christina is 22 and holds a bachelor degree in Human Geography and Christian Publishing. She is now having a gap year to gain experience before starting a Masters in Communication. She believes that public opinion is one of the most powerful forces shaping conflicts and peace processes. Being an EA, a witness and an advocate are therefore important missions for her.

Christina is placed in Yanoun.

Ireland

David

David is a retired Professor of Civil Engineering.  His father served with the British army in the First World War as a Corporal in the Royal Engineers and was a dispatch rider with the Allenby campaign that passed through Palestine on its way from Alexandria to Damascus.  David’s own first visit to Israel was in 1971 to attend a conference at the Technion in Haifa.  More recently he visited, mainly the West Bank in 2007 and 2008, on one-week study tours. He longs for a just and equitable peace in the region.

David is placed in Jerusalem.

Gerry

Gerry is a trained mediator and facilitator working mainly in the community sector. She has 25 years experience in this field. She has worked in Serbia with Mediators beyond Borders and in Northern Ireland, and holds a Diploma in Continuing Education from the University of Ireland. She trains mediators to Mediators Institute of Ireland accreditation level and in the University of Limerick. She has trained in The Evaluation of Peace Interventions in Northern Ireland and in Mediation for Post Conflifc countries in Berlin. 

Gerry is placed in Hebron.

Norway

Ida

Ida is a Norwegian 27-year old with a MA in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Oslo. Since graduating she has coordinated projects with various NGOs, one of them involving a conference focusing on the relationship between Europe and the Middle East. Ida is the older of two children. She has no particular religious affiliations. However she has always been interested in religion science and politics, which is why she spends as much time as possible in the Middle East.

Ida is placed in Jayyous.

Ine

Ine is a 30 year old photographer from Oslo, Norway. She has worked the last couple of years on the postproduction side of photography. Her interest in EAPPI was sparked by a visit to Hebron where she met EAs accompanying schoolchildren. She hopes to be able to make a difference in people’s everyday lives and to gain a better understanding of the conflict during her stay in Israel/Palestine. Ine's blog, in Norwegian but with plenty of photos, can be read here.

Ine is placed in Tulkarem.

Joakim

Joakim Sharp-Bergersen is 34 year old and lives in Oslo, Norway together with his Australian wife. He has a bachelor’s degree in Media Production and is almost finished with a Masters of Development.  Joakim runs his own consultancy business and has worked in several countries including England, Australia, Laos, Nepal, Thailand and Myanmar. Joakim has always been interested in the Middle East and especially the Palestine-Israel conflict. In his spare time Joakim enjoys mixed martial arts.

Joakim is placed in Yanoun.

Oddvar

Oddvar, 57, has a bachelor’s degree in Social Science and a master’s in Economics and Business Administration. He has spent most of his career in global business and has lived for extended periods in several countries. Oddvar has a long-standing interest and concern for the conflict in the Middle East, both from a secular and a Christian perspective. Oddvar belongs to the Lutheran Church in Norway, and is married with four children.

Oddvar is placed in Jerusalem.

Sweden

Boel

She started her schooling in Argentina. She studied nursing and graduated as a nurse tutor, and was a missionary in the Mekane Yesus Church in Ethiopia for some years, as a health worker with poor children and families. She is recently retired after 11 years as a deacon in the Church of Sweden.

A great interest of hers is working with drama groups and giving poetry readings.

Boel is placed in Yanoun.

Ingrid

Ingrid is a radio journalist employed by the Swedish Broadcasting Cooperation. She is a news reporter specializing in human rights and environmental issues. Ingrid is a mother of four children and enjoys hiking, as well as skiing, in the mountains in the north of Sweden. A wish for a better understanding and a hope of being able to make a difference has been the inspiration to participate in the programme.

Ingrid is placed in Jerusalem.

Gunnar

Gunnar Stenbäck is from Sweden. He was a minister in the Church of Sweden from 1969 until he retired in 2008. He was once a hospital chaplain. He lives with his wife in a house near Falkenberg, a small town on the Swedish west coast. They have four grown-up children and five grandchildren. He has visited Israel six times before as a tourist.

Gunnar is placed in Bethlehem.

Per

Per, 27, grew up and lives in Uppsala just north of Stockholm. He has a Masters degree in Peace and Conflict studies from Umeå university. Per has done internships in Namibia and Bolivia, mainly working with evaluations of current projects around microfinance and distance education. He is an active member of the Green party in Sweden.

Per is placed in Tulkarem.

Sofia

Sofia is a 25 year old Swedish positivist with a lot of patience. She has a BA in Public Health with a special focus on global health and gender studies. Her international engagement has taken her to different ends of the world. She initiated an HIV project in Zambia and evaluated a sanitation project in El Salvador. Now she has found her way to Palestine and Israel, with a wish to work for a genuine peace in the region. On her spare time she enjoys being with friends, dancing, listening to music, drinking coffee and exploring the world.

Sofia is placed Hebron.

Sofie

Sofie lives in the north of Sweden, in a city called Umeå. She stayed in Umeå after studying for a BA in Peace and Conflict studies. She currently works with mentally ill people at a residential house in Umeå. Sweden is historically a Christian country but the society is very secularized and the same can be said for Sofie’s family.

Sofie is placed in Jayyous.

Switzerland

Alexandra

Alexandra is 35, lives in Basel and works as a nurse in an institution for drug addicts. She loves to travel the world. A steady companion for her travels is her camera.

Alexandra is placed in Hebron.

Hildegard

Hildegard has studied French and Italian language and literature and history of art in Bern, Zurich, Fribourg in Switzerland, and Siena in Italy. She taught French and Italian until she retired in 2009. She has one grown-up son. In the last years she has had a growing interest in Israel and Palestine. Now, she feels very privileged to have the chance to be here, to work for human rights, to know more about the situation what will enable her to advocate back home for a better understanding and a resolution to the conflict.

Hildegard is placed in Tulkarem.

Sabine

Sabine, 65, has worked as a midwife, primary school teacher and a district nurse. Birth trauma is one of her special interests. All her life she has enjoyed traveling and learning about different ways of life. Understanding what leads to peace and war has been her lifelong quest.

Sabine is placed in Bethlehem.

United Kingdom

Jan

Jan is a recycled - and renewed! - EA, having served in Jayyous in 2005.  When not on the West Bank she lives in the West of Scotland, in a small fishing village on the Isle of Mull. Jan is also a member of the radical and ecumenical Iona Community, for which she worked for six years – the last three as Warden of the community’s abbey. Before that she spent 15 equally interesting years  as an editor for the Methodist Church in the UK and now works freelance as a writer and storyteller (part of the Scottish Storytelling Network). She also leads worship most Sundays in various Church of Scotland parishes on Mull.

Jan is placed in Yanoun.

Jonathan

Jonathan Herbert is an Anglican priest and is married with 3 children, who have all left home to work or study. He has worked on 2 large council estates with huge problems of poverty and social exclusion. For the last 13 years he has been a member of the Pilsdon Community, an ecumenical Christian community which practices a life of prayer, simple manual work on a farm and welcomes a wide variety of visitors, particularly those on the margins of society.

He is particularly interested in the connections between spirituality and social justice. He recently completed a 500 mile pilgrimage to the Santiago Compostella in Spain.

Peter

Peter is married with three children and four wonderful grandchildren. He is a retired Maths teacher and is currently a Warwickshire County Councillor. He has a BA in Maths and Theology and an MPhil in Old Testament studies. He is particularly interested in biblical interpretation in the light of modern-day Zionism.

Peter is placed in Tulkarem.

Phil

Phil Lucas has degrees in English/History and Theology, was a Baptist minister for ten years, a teacher and head-teacher for 21 years, and managed Edinburgh Quaker Meeting House before retiring in 2007.  He is 70 years old. He has been a Quaker for thirty years, has been actively engaged in national Quaker affairs in Britain. He developed an interest in Israel/Palestine after hosting a group from Bethlehem in Edinburgh in 2005.  He has been married for 47 years and has two sons.

Phil is placed in Bethlehem.

United States of America

Muriel

Muriel was born in Geneva and grew up in the French part of Switzerland. The daughter of a minister in the Swiss Reformed Church, she chose to study theology at a very young age. After her M.Div., she was ordained in 1990 in Switzerland and practiced her ministry in various parishes and homes for mentally and physically challenged young adults. At the same time, she pursued her theological studies and received a Ph.D. in Theology in 1998.

She currently lives in Salt Lake City (USA) where she is the head of Religious Studies at the University of Utah. She is active in several interfaith groups. After 5 ½ years in academia, she wanted to be back in the field and is thrilled to have been able to join Group 34.

Muriel is placed in Jerusalem.

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