My name is Arkan, and I am a 17-year-old Palestinian refugee girl living in Gaza camp in the Jerash Governorate in Jordan. I am visually impaired. I have been involved in the Gender and Adolescence Global Evidence (GAGE) programme since 2019, as a member of GAGE’s adolescent participatory research work. In this role, I have participated in focus group discussions, individual interviews, and, additionally, I have been trained on using photography as part of participatory research. Photography has been a huge part of my involvement in research and used to express myself and my life.
When I learned that I had the opportunity to travel to Tunisia and participate in the Arab Adolescent Forum, I was incredibly excited. My travel day started at 5 a.m.: I performed my morning prayers and then prepared to leave Gaza camp in Jerash for Amman. I arrived at the Amman airport at 7:30 a.m. and said goodbye to my family. This was a very emotional moment because I had never traveled before nor spent any length of time away from my family. The airport was huge! I was shocked at its size! I enjoyed all corners of the busy airport before boarding my plane. Flying was a completely new experience for me – I was fully immersed. Finally, I landed in Tunisia and quickly got to my hotel for some rest.
The second day of my trip, I woke up at 6:30 a.m., took a hot bath to remove the remaining fatigue from the previous day. I started preparing myself for the conference. It was a strange feeling of stress, happiness and enthusiasm. I wasn’t too worried about presenting, because I had practiced and trained – but still, it was difficult because I hadn’t ever participated in such a big platform and I am not sure I managed to express myself the way I wanted. I shared my experience living with a visual impairment and talked about education in my circumstances and in my setting. It was a beautiful experience, everyone supported me and I was the youngest speaker at the event! Although I don’t speak English, I didn’t feel weird or out of place.
During the conference I heard many presentations covering important topics on both local and international challenges that young people face. There was so much shocking information and statistics – it was difficult to take it all in. I really enjoyed GAGE’s research presentations because it was great to get to know more about the broader research and what we were advocating for. The conference also had organized so many interactive sessions for young people, such as games and side events – they were all so interesting and I was involved in almost all of them. I also took part in the Arab World Café, which was a discussion on various topics including women and girls’ safety, youth empowerment, and climate change.
Many young men and women, adolescents who are similar to my age, participated in the Arab Adolescent Forum. I got to know them and we interacted a lot during the conference. There were interesting and meaningful discussions. We spoke about what we wished to change and what actions needed to be taken; we went out for a walk and got to know the different cultures of each participant’s country. I met peers from Syria, Bahrain, Iraq, Egypt, Pakistan, Palestine, Somalia, Tunisia, Morocco and many other countries and we talked about the differences and similarities in our communities and the conditions of adolescents. We shared the difficulties and challenges we face, and some suggested solutions from their experience in their communities – this was incredibly insightful.
I love filming with my GAGE participatory research camera, because I got to creatively document and share my life. I used it all the time during my stay in Tunis, and during my participation at the conference and I’m was excited to show my family and friends. I am also excited to share the images and story behind the image during the participatory research, as I always do.
I truly saw a lot in Tunisia, I’ve never seen so much before in my life. The society, life, infrastructure, trees, and people are very different from those in my camp in Jordan. The difference is so big, I loved this place and I loved all the areas I visited. The sea was the most beautiful thing I ever saw in my life and the presence of the young people involved with me made the journey meaningful and a beautiful memory. I went to several areas and most importantly I went to the bookstore and bought several books to take with me to my house. I also enjoyed the company of GAGE researchers and their presence was of great importance in my sense of safety and belonging to this place.
