Iraqi Principal visits Provo High

We hosted an Iraqi school principal April 12-18. She visited Performing and Fine Arts classrooms as well as administrators over the Arts to gain expertise on how to run a Center for the Arts for teens and young adults in her community in Iraq.

The Arabic program hosted her visit. She talked to Arabic students about modern issues in Iraq and showed them the difference between Egyptian and Iraqi dialect with the help of our Egyptian teacher, Mohamed Elnaggar.

No picture is posted to maintain the privacy of our guest.

Iraqi Principal to Visit Provo

The Iraqi principal will arrive on Monday, April 12, and leave Sunday, April 18. People have been very generous with their time. She will be meeting with experts in the field of education and community building who specialize in both performing and fine Arts for teens. We're excited about the the kinds of connections We've been able to secure so far. We even hunted down someone just last night who does community art shows featuring the work of struggling teens and their artistic mentors.

The fundraising is going well so far and students have been very generous in a tight economy.

If you're interested in more information about the project send me an email or contact me on the blog.

KSL.com News Story

Utah students to raise money for Iraqi school

March 26th, 2010 @ 1:19pm

By Randall Jeppesen

PROVO -- Close to 250 students from across the state are learning more about Arabic and what it's like to be in the Middle East.

Provo High School is hosting Arabic Camp Day Friday, which involves students already in Arabic language studies along with those who are just starting out.

"It's becoming a really important language," says Provo High School Arabic coordinator Audrey Bastian. "It's one of the State Department's critical languages that we learn so we are able to interact with the world in a more productive way."

Students gather in the Provo High School auditorium during Arabic Camp Day Friday.

Bastian says at the camp the students will get the chance to use their Arabic language skills in a more real-life context. They also want to let the students get a better taste of Middle Eastern culture and hopefully get them excited about continuing their studies.

"A lot of these new students don't even know how to locate the Middle East on a map, so this is really making a huge difference," says Bastian.

Following the camp, the school will be hosting a benefit concert Friday night for a school in Iraq. Provo student Katie Jenkins befriended students from the Iraqi school while attending a program in Washington, D.C.

Arabic Camp Day features foods from the Middle East.

Jenkins says the school and the students are struggling, so she and her classmates are going to try and help out by providing art supplies and athletic equipment as well as raising funds to pay the school building's rent.

"The students are dropping out of school. It's causing problems in their community," says Jenkins.

The concert begins at 7 p.m. in the Provo High School auditorium. It will feature performances from several BYU groups including Young Ambassadors and Living Legends. Also set to take the stage: the UVU African Club and Provo High School cultural groups, dance classes and choirs.

Local businesses have promised to match all donations raised at the concert.

The principal from the Iraqi school the students are trying to help will also be making a visit to Utah in April.

E-mail: rjeppesen@ksl.com

Iraqi Benefit Concert

Last night, March 26th, we held a benefit concert at Provo High for a school in Iraq to help raise money for their arts programs. Currently students are only able to study the core subjects. Without extra curricular types of subjects, many students feel discouraged without other means of expressing their talents and developing new skills. People were generous and we will continue to raise funds in the next couple of weeks. If you are interested in donating, please contact me and I can direct you.

Arabic Camp Day, March 26

We used this picture at our Photo Booth.

Yesterday, March 26th, 280 students from 9 schools came to Provo High for an Arabic Camp Day. It was sponsored by the State Department: Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Provo High Arabic students facilitated the stations and mc'ed. Catering students made the food. The Deseret News sent a photographer and we're in today's morning paper (link to picture). KSL News Radio came and did a piece on the Camp as well as a local online news organization. We had a lot of fun.

General David Petraeus

Arabic students listened to General David Petraeus in person today as he spoke to a Brigham Young University audience.

Petraeus, with a masters and PhD in International Relations from Princeton as well as Commander of Central Command was funny and respectful to the audience. He gave two points and then took questions for the remainder of the session.

Students seemed to enjoy their experience.

An Iraqi's Journey to Provo

A student met an Iraqi high school principal, Hana’a Al Fadhli, in Washington DC as part of her HOBY (Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership) scholarship conference. She decided to hold a benefit concert at Provo High to raise funds for Mrs. Fadhli’s school arts programs.

Next friday, March 26, the evening of our Arabic Camp Day, we are putting on a concert with performers and businesses who will match contributions. Miss Bastian is the faculty advisor for her project and she is working with Lani Quisenberry, the assistant principal, as well.

Miss Bastian's main responsibility has been to manage the international logistics for the event. I’ll explain. When Mrs. Fadhli heard what we were doing, her friends in Iraq and in the HOBY organization encouraged her to come to the US especially for the concert. Her goal was to attend the benefit concert in her honor. She was coming to get training at Provo High on how to begin arts programs in her own school. She then was to return to Iraq to implement these programs and create an Iraqi model for the rest of the country to adopt.

So…Miss Bastian has been on Skype stretching my Arabic skills, handling the visa letters we need to write to get her here. Due to elections in Iraq, we had to change our letter to allow her to apply for the visa at the US embassy in Ankara, Turkey. Her appointment was Thursday.

What Happened

Miss Bastian received a two page letter this morning from her in Arabic. It’s a play by play of what happened. How she was late for her flight; how she left her laptop in the rush somewhere. How she couldn’t get to the embassy fast enough by bus and couldn’t afford a taxi so someone took her in a private car. After all this, she made it to the embassy without the critical papers she needed.

She returned to Iraq; her students gathered around her. In her letter she wrote about looking into their expectant eyes to tell them she wouldn’t be able to make it to Provo, UT for the concert. She said she is till optimistic about the future and tried to aleviate the sadness and the frustrated hopes of her students.

So, We’ve got…

a plan B. We're not going to post it here yet because we need to work out the behind the scenes stuff before it goes public but we're not giving up that easy. We’ll see. One way or the other, though. We are putting on the concert and will still focus our efforts on making those kids’ hopes in Iraq become a reality. Keep reading for more details as I confirm them.