By Katherine O'Neill
For the breakout sessions during the opening conference I joined the innovation group. I was at first drawn to the Social Justice group, but wanted to get out of my comfort zone and explore a new way of thinking. And I am so glad that I did.
Our group visited the town of Jisr Al-Zakar, the only remaining Arab city on the Mediterranean coast. I had actually visited there once before the previous year. We met with a woman named Genevieve who works at Juha’s Guesthouse. It is a small hostel near the beach that is attempting to increase tourism for the city. The town’s economy struggles because there is only one road that leads into the town and there is no exit from the main highway.
It was amazing to be back and see how much had changed in a year. The streets were cleaner, more people were out, and there were new benches and palm trees on the beach. There was a new sense of hope and energy that had not been there a year before.
While there, I had the chance to speak to a young woman working at the guesthouse and learning English. As a young Arab girl in a small town, a college education had never been an option for her. But after her time working at the guesthouse, she had begun dreaming of going to medical school in the United States. It was an incredible experience to see the human impact of the guesthouse on the people of the town.
The idea of a guesthouse in a poor town cut off from the rest of the country seemed insane, but the success of the endeavor proved that sometimes what you need is a crazy idea. I started to think about social justice differently. I had thought that innovation and social justice were completely separate, but after this visit I realized how vital different ways of thinking are to building a better future. I am excited to continue exploring new ideas and expanding my world view.
