Jack

« My name is Jack Kahkedjian, I am a 19-year-old mechanical engineering student from Lebanon; I was sponsored by the ACO in representing the Synod of Syria and Lebanon to attend the summer camp by ABC-Climont. The journey started at Basel airport where me and my colleague Garabed were picked up by Mathieu Busch. He drove us to Strasbourg where we were hosted by Petra and her husband Pierre. In the days we spent in Strasbourg Petra and Martine took great care of us. We toured the city, had lunch and dinner, and even biked to Germany. It was a wonderful experience filled with cultural exchange and learning about the history of the Alsace region.

On Monday we went to the Climont region where our summer school was in the house of Alexandra and Chris. When first arriving, I felt nervous wondering how this summer school would go and how the people here are; it didn’t take long before all worry disappeared when I got to meet our hosts and the other students. It quickly became like a family living under the same roof, cooking and eating together, and spending all our free time together. The school’s theme of stories at war felt very fitting seeing the state of the world today. The program brought multiple important and influential people where we discussed, debated, and participated in activities.

I personally really enjoyed the conversations about the EU on Tuesday and sharing our stories on Wednesday. The final activity we did on Friday about spontaneous writing was the most enjoyable activity for me personally. Matter of fact, up until that activity I hadn’t written in my native tongue, Arabic since I graduated from high school 2 years ago, and since then it has inspired me to practice the forgotten art of writing Arabic. Moreover, we were taken amazing care of, having full course meals for breakfast, lunch, and supper; we also went on a visit to Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg, a biological farm, and had dinner along the German border.

On the learning side, I believe I acquired a lot of cultural knowledge not obtainable from just internet sources or social media. Me and the other students shared many of our cultural differences and discovered things about each other we never would’ve known. And despite all our disagreements and differences in values or opinions we managed to foster great friendships that will last lifetimes. I am very grateful to have such luck to be able to attend this school. I want to deeply thank the ACO and its members, Alexandra and Chris, and Mathieu for accommodating, hosting, and making this entire once in a lifetime experience so beautiful. »