Cairo 20-07-08:

Cairo 20-07-08: The Arab Digital Expression Camps Project launches its 2008 session this week with the beginning of its training of trainers' workshop which convenes July 26 and continues for six days with 25 participants from Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco and Egypt.

Around 50 Arab youth aged 12 to 15, both funded and registered, from Morocco, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Egypt are expected to join the two-week summer camps from August 2 to 15th held this year at the Six Corners Resort in Abu Sultan, Ismailiya.

The project convenes this year with the support of Team Engineering and Management Consultants – the project's main supporter. Several other companies, non-governmental organizations and individuals from Egypt, Jordan, UAE, KSA and Morocco have contributed to funding youth to join the camps.

Among the sponsoring companies are Sadco (Egypt), Team-Maroc, Saudi Human Resource Development (KSA) and Pepsico (UAE). The Jordanian Ruwwad organization has sponsored two children and two trainers to take part in the event while the Culture Resource's Mawa3eed program for supporting cultural and artistic exchange in the Arab region has funded the travel of six trainers from Lebanon. Eight individuals who asked not to be named from Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt are also supporting children to join ADEC 2008.

The camps' program includes workshops in filmmaking, sound and music, animation, web 2.0, sports and arts. Several well-known guests (artists, musicians) are expected to visit the children throughout their stay and conduct digital and creative workshops aimed at empowering the youth and developing their skills in digital expression.

At this time and age, the symbols of modern life - satellite TV, internet, cell phones, electronic billboards, etc - are connecting children and youth to a world their parents never knew. With this technological media domination comes a content that rarely reflects their culture and heritage. The Arab youth are more on the receiving end of this technology. The goal of this project is to empower Arab youth with the tools and skills to make use of the technology they are exposed to, and to become creators of their own content rather than receivers or mere spectators. This camp aspires to teach the youth how to use technology to develop their knowledge and sense of identity in a creative way.

This is the second year ADEC organizes its big annual event. In August 2007, 64 children took part in the program supervised by 30 trainers from Egypt, Lebanon and Palestine, where they produced many works in digital expression in filmmaking, music, web design and graphic design.

For more information about the project, visit www.arabdigitalexpression.com. To follow-up on the youth's projects, visit www.arabdigitalexpression.net.