SOME 25 people came to Treowen at the end of an Indian summer weekend to hear Jane Wheelock talk about her 3 months in east Jerusalem as an Ecumenical Accompanier (EA) on Sunday afternoon, 4th October.

Jane, who is a Professor Emerita at Newcastle University, was brought up on the farm at Treowen, and her brothers made the house available for a fundraising tea in aid of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI).

EAPPI is a programme of the World Council of Churches and set up over a decade ago. It sends international volunteers to witness and accompany Palestinians experiencing human rights violations.

Jane showed photos of her work at Qalandia checkpoint, assisting the olive harvest in a ‘seam zone’ community cut off from much of its agricultural land by the security barrier or wall, and supporting a tiny primary school in Nabi Samwil, a seam zone village with 250 inhabitants.

Questions from the audience showed how shocked people were by the daily restrictions faced by Palestinians in earning a livelihood or getting their children to school.

Tea and cakes (cooked by family and friends) raised over £100 for EAPPI, which relies entirely on voluntary donations.

Volunteers come from over 25 countries, and in Britain and Ireland the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) selects and trains up to 12 volunteers a year.

If anyone wishes to make a contribution to the work of EAPPI, this can be done through Quaker Peace and Social Witness, Friends House, London.