The Hesban Secondary School for Boys is located in a rural area outside the city of Amman. The background of the students is reflecting the composition of the local population – mostly Bedouins and farmers. But there are also students of Palestinian or even Russian origin.

Especially for the students with Palestinian background the joint project poses a challenge: "It was much easier for the Jordanian students to accept the fact that this is a joint project with students and teachers from Israel. But we also have students in the school whose families are originally Palestinians. At the beginning, some of their parents were suspicious of the project's contents," Marwan Alhamd, the teacher, states. But now, all students are actively participating in the class and one boy mentions: "We really like this program and I can feel that it provides us with the tools to change our society to the better."

The Savior Episcopal Secondary School in Zarqa has almost a balance of Muslim and Christian students (47% Muslims/53% Christians). Zarqa is one of the biggest, but also one of the poorest cities in Jordan with a high percentage of soldiers and factory workers. The school is trying to provide its students with the best education possible and has an integrated kindergarten for the blind.

Banan Khalafat, one of the school's teachers, talks about the first results of the program: "The students are getting more active and self confident. They really understand the meaning of the values we are teaching here and they are eager to go out to spread these values in their own communities." For the teachers the program opens up new possibilities of teaching: "We are learning new methods of teaching which we can use later in all our classes and we can even learn from our own students", she says.

At the Church of Nazarene School in Amman, 45% of the students are Muslims while 55% are Christians. From the beginning, students and parents accepted and welcomed the program. Dr. Nadia Malkawi, the Muslim principal of the Anglican school emphasizes the importance of teaching democratic values such as Equality, Tolerance and Justice and the Rule of Law to the students as well as the new teaching methods: "The students are developing a new creativity and are treating each other with more respect than before. And the teachers can use the new methods in their other classes as well. Our school is proud of participating in this program."

A part of the students involved in the program is originally from Egypt, Syria, Sudan, Iraq and the Palestinian Autonomous Territories. In the classroom they are transforming their experiences into role playing and arts. One student who fled from the war in Iraq to Jordan enthusiastically says: "Our school is the best example for equality: A Christian school with a Muslim Head Mistress and students from so many different countries. And we are all feeling respected and accepted. This is the true meaning of tolerance."

Annika Lübke