Cadfa Comes to Cornwall by Tara Seaborn

I discovered CADFA via social media at the beginning of February this year and I am very glad that I did. I live in Cornwall, approximately 275 miles from Camden and the UK CADFA HQ . I was delighted when it was suggested that part of the Palestinian Women’s visit could include a visit to the Cornish coast. Cornwall’s natural beauty and charm makes it a lovely place to visit and is often a welcome change from the cityscapes but when planning the visit the level of support for the Palestinian cause was an unknown quantity.

Initial enquiries were encouraging and we soon had a meeting lined up with The Women’s Centre in Bodmin and an evening event at Cafe CHAOS in Truro.

The ladies travelled by sleeper train and arrived in Truro on a mild early spring morning. I had already met Abeer and Eman in Palestine back in February and it was lovely to catch up. It was great to catch up with Nandita too and find out more about CADFA’s history.

Life’s a beach

A visit to Cornwall would be incomplete without a trip to a beach. The weather was fair so we ventured out to Perranporth to see the Atlantic Ocean and admire the views whilst walking along the coastal path. This is such a contrast to the reality of daily life in Abu Dis and Palestine as a whole. I have always realised that I am very fortunate to live here and the thought was even more prominent in my mind after my recent trip to Palestine with CADFA.

Women unite

The ladies at The Women’s Centre in Bodmin had agreed to hold a lunch meeting with us.They were very friendly and hospitable, providing a lunch of traditional Cornish pasties, salad, hummus etc. It was a very productive meeting. The women from the Centre were keen to find out more about CADFA and were particularly interested to hear about Sumood, the women’s group that Eman runs in Abu Dis. The Women’s Centre Cornwall has subsequently made a donation to Sumood and hope to become a sister organisation to the group. Some of the staff there have expressed a wish to visit Palestine in the future and I hope that it will be possible once the current pandemic is over.

CHAOS reigns!

Our evening event was held at Cafe CHAOS(Community Helping All Of Society) in Truro. Babs Rounsevell, CHAOS’ creator had kindly allowed up to take over the cafe for the evening and provided refreshments. The event was well attended with over thirty people coming to hear the women speak. We had people of different ages, race and religion and they all came together to show their support for Palestine. Abeer and Eman delivered informative and impassioned speeches. The audience were attentive and some were inspired to move into action.There are now plans to arrange meetings, events and fund-raising activities in and around Truro, in partnership with CADFA as soon as circumstances allow. We held a collection after the event and raised £137.50 for CADFA. Once again, we made positive connections and raised awareness about Palestine.

Onwards!

It was a long but successful day and I think we achieved what we set out to do. Nandita, Abeer and Eman retired to their rooms after 9pm and before we knew it another day had dawned and they were on their way to Salisbury for their next set of adventures. I was very impressed by all three ladies’ ability to keep the momentum going and their unshakable enthusiasm for their task. I hope that the visit was enjoyable and worthwhile. I also hope that we meet again, whether it be in the UK or Palestine.