Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture

A talented, enthusiastic team of teachers, all specialists in various fields, plus several young counselors, are participating with us this year, having developed a fun and enriching program for Al-Bustan campers. Let us introduce them to you. . . .

Fadwa Kashkash: Arabic

Fadwa has a degree in literature and education, with diplomas in Arabic language instruction, art, interior design and calligraphy. She is currently tutoring children and adults in Arabic. She has over twenty five years experience teaching kindergarten and elementary school students in Kuwait. She is also an artist and has exhibited her paintings in the Chestnut Hill area of Philadelphia. This is her fourth year volunteering at Al-Bustan Camp.

Nadia Barclay: Storytelling/Drama

Nadia, an Arab-American, will be a second year undergraduate student at Bryn Mawr College this fall. She is majoring in Growth and Structure of Cities, with a concentration in Urban Policy. She is interested in Middle East culture and politics. having traveled to Lebanon almost every year, and visited Jordan and Syria.She enjoys music, running, playing the piano, working with kids and spending time in the city.

Adeeb Samaan Refela: Music

Adeeb is an accomplished musician, a self-taught player of the oud since the age of twelve years, as well as the violin and guitar. During the past ten years, he was a full-time performer playing the oud with the National Arabic Music Orchestra at the Cairo Opera House under the direction of Salim Sehab. For many years he has been tutoring adults and children in the oud, violin and guitar. Recently relocated to the Philadelphia area, he has been performing with Joseph Tayoun and various music groups. He has also been working with Strings for Schools, presenting workshops on Middle Eastern music in Philadelphia schools. This is his second year at Al-Bustan Camp.

Daniel Dalseth: Art

Daniel is an artist who received his Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He has exhibited his work at the Reading Terminal Head House and Fox Gallery in Philadelphia, as well as the Korean National University of the Arts in Seoul, and the Techno-Art Center and Museum of Non-Conformist Art in St. Petersburg, Russia. He has been a teaching assistant in sculpture and printmaking at the University of Pennsylvania and an artist in residence in St. Petersburg. Fluent in Russian and Spanish, he has traveled extensively in Europe and Asia and spent time in Katmandu, Nepal as a volunteer primary school teacher. This is his third year at Al-Bustan Camp.

Joseph Tayoun: Music

Joseph, a Lebanese-American, is a music teacher, an accomplished Middle Eastern percussionist, as well as a certified elementary education teacher in New Jersey. having taught music at several Philadelphia and New Jersey secondary schools. He has participated in several residencies with Zakir Hussain and with Simon Shaheen , and is participating this year in the Philadelphia Folklore Projects’ Musician in Residence Program. He has been playing over the past ten years at ‘Concerts for Peace’ with the Arabic/Jewish ensemble Atzilut which has performed in the U.S. and Europe. This is his fourth year at Al-Bustan Camp.

Michele Tayoun: Dance

Michelle, a Lebanese-American, is experienced in the traditional, folklore dances of the Arab region and has conducted numerous dance workshops with children and adults. She also sings in Arabic and has had vocal instruction with Simon Shaheen. This is her fourth year at Al-Bustan Camp.

Linda Hanna: Nature

Linda, a Syrian-American, is an experienced environmental health scientist with her own consulting firm, focused on integrated risk management in the areas of ecology and human health She has traveled in the Middle East region where she has observed the local cultural and political realities as related to environmental issues, and upon her return has documented her visits in Israel and the West Bank and Gaza. As an avid gardener, she has been a long time member of the Morris Arboretum and is familiar with its varied landscape. Over the past two years she has taken the lead in development of the camp¹s Community Garden located across from the Arboretum entrance. This is her third year at Al-Bustan Camp.

Gordon Witty: Nature

Gordon has lived in Egypt for two years. He is currently an Instructor of Arabic at Temple University’s Critical Languages Center, while also completing his doctoral degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He hosted the television program “Marhaba: Welcome to the World of Arabic”, which is still in re-runs on the Philadelphia School District cable TV channel. He loves the outdoors and is an avid bug collector. This is his fourth year at Al-Bustan Camp.

Dahna Abourahme: Video

Dahna is a New York based filmmaker who grew up in Abu Dhabi and Amman. She received her MA in Media Studies at the New School of Social Research in New York. She teaches video to youth and has been involved in several community art projects. Her credits include sound recording for 500 Dunam on the Moon and like twenty impossibles. Last year she completed her first feature documentary, until when… which follows four Palestinian families living in a refugee camp near Bethlehem, Palestine. She will be working this summer with Al-Bustan Camp counselors, teaching them video as a way to tell their stories — to explore issues of culture and identity in the context of their camp experience.

Thea Abu El-Haj: Education Research & Evaluation

Thea, a Palestinian-American, is an educational researcher and teacher educator, and currently a faculty member at the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University. She grew up in Iran and Lebanon, lived in Egypt and has spent extensive time with her family in Palestine. She began her career in the field of education developing cross-cultural curriculum and then working as an elementary school teacher for many years. Since receiving her doctoral degree from the University of Pennsylvania in the anthropology of education, she has been researching, writing and teaching about socio-cultural processes and education. She has a particular interest in conducting collaborative research with educators to document and evaluate programs.

Hazami Sayed: Director/Architecture

Hazami, an Arab-American and graduate of the Master of Architecture program at Columbia University, has worked in the fields of architecture and urban development in Philadelphia and New York City. Her current area of research is affordable urban housing in which she has taught a seminar at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also a photographer and has exhibited her work in Philadelphia. Over the past few years she has been involved with school children in a number of educational initiatives related to understanding the cultural, religious and socio-political realities of the Arab/Muslim world. She is the founder and president of Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture.

Camp Counselors:

Our bright and energetic team of counselors this year are mentoring the young campers and assisting the teachers, while also learning about video-making. With instruction from Dahna Abourahme, they are producing two group videos that explore aspects of their culture and idenitity.

Zehra Alsarraj, an Iraqi-American, will be a sophomore at Great Valley School in Malvern where she is a member of the National Honor Society. She plays the violin and piano and is an avid swimmer having participated in many swimming competitions. She is a Girl Scouts member and enjoys spending time with young children. This is her third year volunteering at Al-Bustan Camp.

Jamal Alsrarraj, an Iraqi-American, just graduated with honors from Great Valley School in Malvern and will be a freshman at University of Pennsylvania this fall. He has been an active member of his school¹s debate team with a passion for current and foreign affairs, playing the piano, art and creative writing. He is a black belt in karate and is the recipient of the Good Citizenship Award of the Union League of Philadelphia. This is his third year volunteering at Al-Bustan Camp.

Millan AbiNader, seventeen years old, will be a senior at Friend¹s Central School in Wynnewood. She is an avid reader, and her favorites authors range from Jane Austen to Phillip Pullman and Naomi Shihab Nye. She also enjoys running, cooking, photography and writing. Millan grew up in Washington, D.C., and her father¹s parents emigrated to the US from Lebanon in the 1938, while her mother¹s family traces their American ancestry back to 1636. This is her second year volunteering at Al-Bustan Camp.

Elijah Bliss, is a fourteen year old and will be a freshman at Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts. He plays the classical guitar, enjoys creative writing, and hopes to get into filmmaking soon. He is interested in cultural diversity in his home and school communities, and is excited about the opportunity to volunteer at Al-Bustan Camp, where his younger sisters will be returning as campers for their second summer.

Almokhtar Bdeir, a Palestinian, will be a freshman at Jenkintown High School this fall. He plays the tableh/doumbek, french horn, and trumpet, and is a member of the Al-Bustan Percussion Ensemble. He has a passion for art and enjoys learning French at school. Mokhtar was a camper the first year of Al-Bustan Camp and last summer as well, and now looks forward to returning as a counselor.

Layal Brown, a sixteen-year old of Lebanese heritage, attends Conestoga High School in Berwyn, where she is an honor roll student. Her hobbies include singing, dance, and performing. She has been taking voice lessons since age 11 and has taken acting classes at People’s Light Theater in Malvern. She also plays the violin and has participated in the National French Competition for the past two years. She takes a great interest in international cultures and loves working with children.

Nadia Elokdah , an Egyptian-American, is an eighteen year-old who graduated from Pennsbury High School this past spring. This fall she will be a freshman studying architecture at Temple University, Tyler School of Art. She has traveled a number of times to visit family in Egypt, where she engulfed herself in the Egyptian culture, from souks to masjids. Her interests include art, design, community service, and assistant-student teaching. She has worked with elementary schools in her school district as a foreign language, math, reading, and writing tutor for the past four years.

Sonia Hijab, is a sixteen year old, entering the junior class at Agnes Irwin School in Villanova. She is Palestinian-American, born and adopted from Amman, Jordan. She has been taking karate for five years, and is preparing for an upcoming belt test. Sonia takes dance lessons and actively participates in her school’s dancing, acting, and singing programs. She is also interested in writing and film producing, and loves working with children. Sonia is looking forward to volunteering with Al-Bustan Camp for the first time this summer.

Susanna Farahat, an Egyptian-American, recently graduated from Bryn Mawr College with a B.A. in sociology. She lived for several years in Cairo attending elementary and junior high school. This June she is visiting her family in Cairo and is excited for the opportunity to brush up on her Œrusty¹ Arabic. Susanna enjoys hiking and cooking, and spending time with kids.

Tala Worrell, an Arab-American, will be a ninth grader at the American Community School of Abu Dhabi where she is an honor role student. She is an avid equestrienne of many years. She enjoys sports and is a member of her school¹s JV soccer team and Varsity track team, while coaching soccer to younger children. Tala has been a camper at Al-Bustan Camp and is looking forward to returning as a counselor.

Ludmilla Zamah , is a fourth-year graduate student in Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. As part of her specialization in Islam in the medieval period, she spent the past year in an intensive graduate Arabic program at the American University in Cairo. Of West Indies heritage, she loves learning the Arabic language, learning about Arab culture, and sharing her knowledge with all age groups. She has taught Arabic at Stern Hebrew High School, in addition to leading the Middle East Center’s Arabic conversation hours at U-Penn.