El-Djazair Alumni Newsletter

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Volume 2, Issue 15 February 2011

MUN Model Nations

My name is Arif Abdeldjalil, a
Inside this issue: Model United Nation delegate
2011 and I would like to share
my experience through these
notes on how the MUN confer-
MUN 1 ence meant change for me.
Diplomacy is a way to refer
how a leader is wise and smart.
MUN conference gave us the
SU Marching 2 opportunity to simulate the
Band United Nation Organization, be
open on international relation
and debating in diplomatic ways
BTL 3 and get used to diplomatic vo-
cabulary and behavior.
not great, I was under stress,
but after participating with
other delegates in teamwork to
submit our resolution, we ap-
plied our skills and knowledge,
after 2days of hard work we
passed our resolution and I was
mentioned as a Co-Submitter. In
the 3rd day, I submitted our
resolution as a Main Submitter Arif and other delegates debating.
with 38 Co-Submitter and in
order to have China, Russia and
United State of America voting
for you, one needs to make lot
of efforts in convincing them.

My experience started with a Beside all the serious work I

Access To 3 mock conference in the US
American embassy in Algiers. In this pri-
History mary training I got an idea on
how the conference would look
Between The 4 like, we also had the chance to
Lines meet with the Vice ambassador
Announcement and the embassy staff, I learned
that everyone who works in
diplomacy are ready to deal
with every kind of pressure
daily.
MUN2011 conference took
place in wonderful DOHA.
There, I met other MUN dele-
gates from 350 countries repre-
senting different countries. I
personally was representing
Costa Rica, under Economy and
Social committee (ECOSOC); I
had to know everything about
the country that I was repre-
senting and be familiar with the
different issues that it is facing. I
was eager to start my position
paper and opening speech.
To be honest my first day was
made also new friends, and I had
fun especially when my commit-
tee made a flashback for UN
Humanity Right Council means;
we went to their meeting room
with cooperation of chairs, then
we started dancing in middle of
the room, we were the first
committee on the history of
MUN editions doing a flashback.
Outside work place we discov-
ered the beauty of DOHA. I
visited Islamic Museum, George-
town University, Educational
city, City Center, Villaggio mall,
Souk Waqif and many gorgeous
places.
After developing our debating
skills during 4 days and
discussing different issues, it was
time to participate in Cultural
Night to show our own culture,
traditions, dresses…….
Being an MUN delegate it has
been a big honor and a special
achievement in my career, they
During MUN meetings.
say that many Diplomats were
Models United Nation dele-
gates, From the bottom of my
heart I wish that I will be one of
the decision makers in order to
be more useful and the most
important be able to bring posi-
tive changing for humanity.
I want to thank the US embassy
for offering me such a unique
experience, as I also wish to
thank Mr.Rafik Fadel for being
friend, orienteer and father
more than being just a chap-
eron.
Arif Abdeljalil
 Page 2 El-Djazair Alumni Newsletter

S.U. Marching Band, Drums & Culture

The famous Marching Band
from Southern University of
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, visited
Algeria for the first time to
tour in different cities, per-
forming with their well known
Drum Line. A never-seen-
before performance that
grabbed the Algerian public’s
attention, giving a taste of the
Mr. Lawrence Jackson min- American culture and heritage.
gling with young members The band is made up of 14
of the Muslim Scouts. drummers and 3 managers,
Lead by the Band Director
Lawrence Jackson, who all
were visiting the region for the
first time, a thing that added
more significance to their visit,
as they all wanted to give the
best performance to mark this
event.
“Introducing
The band gave different repre-
chological support to families
that suffered from terrorism.
An outstanding performance
cheered by this very special
audience but, more specifically,
left great memories in both
sides. The band also performed
along with the youth from the
Muslim Scouts, who made an
astonishing performance show-
ing their skills to the S.U.
Marching Band.
Another special show was
given in Tiaret, a city located in
the west of Algeria, where 600
people attended the event and
gave a warm welcome to the
band. The S.U. Marching Band
last performance was in Algiers
during a Basket ball game
where 1200 fans watched and
experienced the peculiar style
Southern University is consid-
ered to be a historically Black
University. The band left Alge-
ria to the U.S. with bags full of
memories to end their tour in
the region after their perform-
ances in both Morocco and
Algeria.
The cultural exchange through
arts and performances proved
its efficiency, as this sort of
events and visits have always
attracted the interest of all
generations in Algeria and in-
troduced different aspects of
the American culture that
were, so far, unknown to the
Algerian young public.
A.B

different sentations in different loca-

tions, Algiers, Bentalha, Sidi
Fredj and Tiaret. Each of the
aspects of the show was particular as the
audiences differed from adults,
kids or Muslim Scouts. One of
American the most important ones was
the performance they gave in
Culture.” the premises of FOREM, an
Algerian NGO that works with
widows of victims of terrorists’
attacks and also providing psy-
of the American drum bands
and the spirit of Louisiana
through the music, dance and
synchronization of the so called
and famous “Human Jukebox”.
This visit and performances
were a great success not only
artistically but also to mark the
month of February as the be-
ginning of the Black History
Month’s celebrations as the

The Drum Line performing in

Algiers.
The Band posing with members of
the Algerian Muslim Scouts.
The S.U. Marching Band at the
FOREM association.
 Volume 2, Issue 15 Page 3

Between The Lines July 2011

For the fourth year in a row,
the International Writing Pro-
gram, in cooperation with the
Iowa Young Writers’ Stu-
dio (IYWS), will host the
Between the Lines (BTL) pro-
gram. Twelve young writers
from Arabic-speaking coun-
tries, aged 16-19, will be invited
to the University of Iowa,
where they will participate in
writing workshops, visit local
sights, and deepen their under-
standing of the United States
through interactions with fel-
low students and the commu-
nity. Workshops will be led by
teachers who are respected
writers in their own right.
Accommodations are in Cur-
rier Hall, a dormitory within
easy walking distance of the
Writers’ Workshop, the Inter-
national Writing Program, and
other UI sites. Boys and girls
reside in separate areas under
the supervision of adult chaper-
ones.
Participating students will have translation class), literature (an
their travel, room/board, and international salon), and per-
most cultural expenses cov- formance (the Friday night
ered. talent show). From small towns
BTL is sponsored through to the big city, these partici-
grant funds provided by the pants experienced a great deal “From small
Bureau of Educational and Cul- of what America has to offer.
tural Affairs of the US State towns to the big
Department.
iwp.uiowa.edu city,
2010
See back page for more details participants
2010's Between the Lines wel-
comed participants from more experienced a
places than ever before. In
addition to Lebanon and the great deal of
West Bank, students came
from Algeria, Bahrain, Libya, what America
Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Gaza.
Their classes were entirely has to offer.”
workshop-based, with Arabic in
the morning (led by teachers
Tarek Eltayeb and Dunya Mik-
hail) and English in the after-
noon. They shared themselves
and their cultures with their
American peers via language
(an "Arabic 101" session, a Arabic-language writing work-
shop

Access to American History

In celebration of Black History
Month, Vice Consul Melissa
Schubert seized the opportu-
nity to give a presentation to
the Access students in Algiers,
and the chosen topic was one
of the reference events during
the segregation period in the
USA, through the case of Plessy
v. Ferguson and Brown v.
Board of Education of Topeka,
two cases are representative of
the fight of African-American
to gain their rights.
These two cases are within Ms.
Schubert’s expertise as prior to
joining the Foreign Service; she
worked as corporate attorney.
The presentation was highly
interesting and it gave this
young audience not only an
idea on a crucial period in the
American history, but also a
taste of the long path followed
by the African-American that
ended up with the Civil Right
movement of Dr. Martin Lu-
ther King.
Schubert prepared briefings for
the students to prime them for
the discussion; Access teachers
also spoke to the students
about the cases before the
session to discuss and intro-
duce them to new vocabulary.
Plessy v. Ferguson is an ex-
tremely important court case
in that it gave legal standing to
the idea of separate but equal.
This doctrine required that any
separate facilities had to be of
equal quality. However, as seg-
regation grew in the South this
was often not the case. The
Plessy decision would be used
as a precedent until 1954 with
the Supreme Court decision in
Brown v Board of Education.
Students reacted to the cases
and how they affected race
relations in the United States. During presentation with
The discussion that followed Access students.
was successful, as students
improved and enriched their
vocabulary and use of English, it
more specifically, enriched
their image of the period and
history, a thing that encouraged
them to compare with the
situation in other countries and
more specifically, in Algeria
during the war for independ-
ence.
M.S & A.B
 DEPARTMENT OF STATE
U.S. Embassy Algiers
http://algiers.usembassy.gov/
Alumni Coordinator/
Educational Advisor at the U.S.
Embassy
Boussoufaa@state.gov
Volume 2, Issue 15
Between the Lines
What is the Between The Lines writing contest?
Between the Lines invites young aspiring writers from Arabic speaking countries in the Middle East
and North Africa between the ages of 16-19 to the University of Iowa to spend two weeks honing
their creative writing skills and interacting with American students of the same age range. The inter-
national students will be accompanied by adult chaperones. The summer session of Between the
Lines (BTL) will take place July 10-25, 2011. During the two-week BTL program, students will take
classes in English with their American counterparts. They will also participate in writing workshop (in
Arabic) with BTL faculty. Chaperones will enroll in a week-long Iowa Summer Writing Festival course
(in English) that will also include American teachers.
Who can apply?
Students:
Must be between the ages of 16 and 19 as of July 10, 2011.
Must be Proficient in Arabic and English (reading, writing, and speaking).
The ideal candidates should be able to:
Demonstrate an interest in and ability to write creatively (prose and/or poetry in both Arabic
and English)
Fully engage their imaginations in a variety of class settings
Confidently work alongside other BTL students in Arabic-language classes as well as American
students in English-language classes
Each applicant must provide the following:
7-8 pages of prose and/or poetry written in Arabic
7-8 pages of prose and/or poetry written in English
A one-paragraph personal statement (in English) describing why they are interested in
participating in BTL.
Copies of passport information pages valid at least 6 months after the program ends.
The completed application form available on the embassy website:
http://algiers.usembassy.gov/academic_exchanges.html
Chaperones:
Must be between the ages of 25 and 40 as of July 10, 2011
Must be Proficient in Arabic and English (reading, writing, and speaking)
Must be Reliable, mature, and willing and able to take on the dual responsibilities of their own pro-
gram and the overall duties of overseeing the students.
The ideal candidate should be:
A teacher who is interested in creative writing and has not had a previous exposure to the U.S.
Willing to assist BTL faculty and IWP staff with projects related to promoting creative writing
and the teaching of creative writing in the Middle East
Able to serve as Arabic-speaking liaison between the BTL students and English-speaking students
and staff at the University of Iowa
Able to fully participate in a formal English language program on creative writing teaching meth-
ods
Able to Demonstrate experience working with young people, particularly teens.
Each applicant must provide the following:
A resume/CV (in English)
A brief statement of purpose describing his/her goals for the program and how his/her par-
ticipation can benefit the program (in English).
Copies of passport information pages valid at least 6 months after the program ends (if
available).
The completed application form available on the embassy website:
http://algiers.usembassy.gov/academic_exchanges.html
How do I apply?
Applications to be submitted electronically at amarouayechei@state.gov
Deadline to submit applications is March 19th, 2011.
Finalists:
Will be invited for an interview at the embassy
Must bring a copy of their Arabic and English writing samples to the interview.