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tokten - UNDP

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The TOKTEN program has made it possible for persons<br />

like myself to return home, and act upon our desire to<br />

contribute and experience the gratification of our<br />

contribution.<br />

Having said that, I reserve the emphasis to my personal<br />

experience: in the context of institutions and their<br />

general limitations, the little big surprise for me was to<br />

cooperate with behind-the-scenes staff; nonconventional<br />

individuals, who are consistently expanding<br />

the intentions and possibilities of the programme to new<br />

horizons.<br />

Elia Suleiman<br />

TOKTEN Consultant to the Bethlehem 2000 Project<br />

In my teens I thought the main thing for building a nation<br />

was the will. In my twenties I thought it was factories. In<br />

my thirties: natural resources.<br />

It took me three decades to discover that the main thing<br />

is skill.<br />

Thanks to TOKTEN I am now transferring the skills in<br />

radio broadcasting I acquired at the BBC in London, to<br />

my homeland. I now make radio programmes, give<br />

lectures, and discuss strategy and ways to improve<br />

management, all at the same time, and for several stations<br />

simultaneously.<br />

In our daily chats we dream of better and wider news<br />

coverage.<br />

The problem is not lack of freedom, but lack of skills. It<br />

is quite difficult to suppress a skillful journalist.<br />

Aref Hijjawi<br />

TOKTEN Consultant to the Palestinian Broadcasting<br />

Corporation<br />

The <strong>UNDP</strong>/PAPP TOKTEN programme has given me<br />

the unique opportunity to be involved in one of the most<br />

outstanding development projects in the Palestinian<br />

Territories, the Bethlehem 2000 Project.<br />

With over 10 years of work in media and public policy<br />

formation behind me, I was able to put to use both my<br />

know-how and long standing wish to contribute to the<br />

rebuilding of Palestinian society. As the Public Relations<br />

programme at Bethlehem 2000 proved, the task was<br />

formidable. I am grateful to the TOKTEN programme<br />

for having given me the opportunity to serve the public<br />

sector in the constructive way that I did. I hope that<br />

many expatriate nationals wishing to serve the<br />

community in Palestinian Territories will have the<br />

opportunity that I was given by this great programme for<br />

this truly worthy project.<br />

Mariam Shahin<br />

TOKTEN Consultant to the Bethlehem 2000 Project<br />

The Diaspora has always had a complex relationship with<br />

the homeland, a mixture of myth, nostalgia and pain.<br />

The TOKTEN programme is a good way of bringing<br />

Palestinians from the Diaspora to interact with their<br />

country and people through professional work. It gives<br />

the opportunity to be part of the system and to avoid<br />

feeling like an outsider.<br />

After having worked with the Bethlehem 2000 Project<br />

under TOKTEN programme, not only did I enjoy<br />

participating in a very challenging project, but I also got<br />

rid of feeling and being part of the Diaspora. I know now<br />

that Palestinian Territories is my country and I can live<br />

and work here like any other citizen.<br />

Nada Hasan<br />

TOKTEN Consultant to the Bethlehem 2000 Project

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