Worldly Belongings Invites Students in the Middle East and the US to Share Something Meaningful about Their Lives

What would happen if students from the Middle East and the US were able to share something personal about their lives that opened the door to greater understanding and friendship? What if instead of just relying on media misrepresentations or knee-jerk reactions, students were able to use the Internet to interact in a way that was humanizing to both sides? Worldly Belongings is a web-based exchange project using a very simple concept in order to open more authentic understanding between students in the US and the Middle East.

Each student is asked to share a physical object that represents something important to his or her life. The object can be absolutely anything, as long as the student can explain how it relates to his deeper values and life story. Photographs of the students with their object and explanations are then posted on-line for students in other countries to see.

I started this project on a whim a few months ago when I traveled to Oman. I really wanted to do something that facilitated a meaningful interaction between students, and I found a class of American students in Portland, Oregon to share their stories with a class in Muscat. Both sides expressed a lot of excitement to share their stories with a group of students across the world who they would otherwise probably never have any contact with.

The activity of sharing a personal object and story is so simple. However, given the conditions of terrible mistrust and villainization that surround US relations with the Middle East, the opportunity for young people to interact in a direct and dignified way that promotes intercultural understanding is profound. A sense of hope and optimism really shines through many of the students comments.

I am now looking to collaborate with other university students and professors in the Middle East or North Africa who would be interested in participating in this project! All of the information is at the website www.worldlybelongings.com. Individual students and groups of students are all invited to join in.

This project is based on the belief that young people world over are desperate to cultivate a vision of global belonging that unites rather than divides. By sharing a personal part of ourselves with each other, we can take the first step towards unity.

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