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ROLE OF THE ADY
IN THE EYES OF ITS TEEN MEMBERS
Shereen Hamadeh
Hey,
My name is Shereen Hamadeh. I am a 15 year old proud Druze Lebanese from the gorgeous mountains of Lebanon. The US has been my home for almost my entire life as i have grown and strived here. Last year i was blessed enough to live an entire year in Baakline with my grandparents as a foreign exchange student. the experience was not an easy one as i learned many new prospects about my culture, but i grew to learn how blessed i am to come from a community of such close people with such high morals. yet, i also learned of the blessings i have in my home in California. Although in Lebanon they have a more saturated count of Druze they also dream of being able to have a taste of our world as they only live to live the dreams of others and strive to perspire in the eyes of all but themselves. their only ambitions in life is to see the world they will never get to see and go to the college they will never afford to be admitted to. Here in our country we have all the blessings we can ask for. A future is available to all who believe in one as a hobby could be acquired by all who have the will. The last thing we should be feeling in America is segregation and lonliness for we are lucky enough to be living in world where there is no normal and there is no ideal social image. A person can be whoever they want to be and be accepted by the ones they love and themselves. yet during our teen years we will always feel the pressures brought to us by proms and dances. As long as we have our druze siblings next to us we can be all we want to be and more. I believe the best thing that could be organized is an ADY society for teens to be proud of their Druze sibling's success and strive to be the best they could without the pressure they force on themselves. That is why i would love to join the ADY to have fun with people
I can relate to.
I can remember being a teenager and the feelings I had of not quite fitting in with my schoolmates. I always felt as though I was different then all my friends and no one seemed to understand me and the decisions I made. These feelings intensified as I entered high school and the pressures to date and what not increased.
I recall thinking how nice it would have been to have a friend who understood not only my culture but also my religion. I would go to get-togethers with my parents sometimes but it was never the setting in which I could meet other youth. It wasn’t until I moved to Los Angeles to attend UCLA that I learned of the American Druze Youth (ADY). It happened that I attended a United Arab Society club meeting during my first week at UCLA. It was there that I met my first Druze friend, Zeina, I still remember the way we hugged each other when we found out that not only were we both Lebanese, but also Druze. Our friendship was immediate, like two old ladies meeting again after years of separation. It was through her that I was introduced to the ADY-Southern California. From then on I looked forward to the first Friday of every month, for that is when the ADY gathered. I felt that I was finally amongst people who understood me and I could relate to. My time with the ADY was very memorable and it eased much of the loneliness I had being away from my family. I was sad to leave Los Angeles because I was leaving not only my friends, but also a group of people who finally understood me.
When I returned to Northern California I was hoping that some sort of ADY might have been established. Had I known some Druze youth in Northern California I would have tried to get a group together but I had no starting point, no foundation. When I arrived at the last Adha party and found that Chadi was trying to organize a ADY-northern California, I was so happy and eager to jump on board. We are currently working hard to find activities to draw the youth in. for me just “hanging out” is enough, I have already met some really nice people and I can’t wait to meet more. An ADY event is a safe place for youth to join together and have fun.
I feel that if the youth are able to get together at least once a month this will plant a seed, that will eventually grow to understanding the importance of staying united with our fellow Druze. I can tell you that having a friend that relates to you is a wonderful feeling.
My team won our league championship on Saturday night(2/28). We beat Convent for the 3rd time this year with a 51-41 score. It was the second consecutive year we have won our league championship and the second league championship in school history for girls basketball. We are now moving into the state playoffs, which start on Tuesday March 2 and go through Sat. March 20. Our current record is 26-1 and we are ranked #1 in the state (CA) in our division. We are the #1 seed in our division for the state playoffs for the first time in school history.
The Urban School of San Francisco is a small private school located in the Haight-Ashbuty district in San Francisco. The School mascot is Blues so we are the: Urban Blues.
Size of school: 250 students (boys and girls). School has been around for 35 years.
This is the end of my 9th year coaching. I have been coaching girls basketball throughout this time. My first 6 years I was at Schools of the Sacred Heart in San Francisco. My first year there we were 1-10. My last five years there were a little more successful. We made the playoffs every year. We were in the championship game each of my last three years, winning one of them. This is the end of my 3rd season at Urban. The two years previous to my arrival at Urban the girls basketball program was bad, a combined record of 9-40. My first year at Urban we went 25-4. In three years there our overall record is 75-13, please note that this year we are 27-1 and still playing. My first year at Urban we were upset in the semifinals of the playoffs. Last year 2002-2003 we won the first league championship in school history. This year 2003-2004 we won the second championship in school history (back to back championships), and are now in the midst of making a run at a California State Championship. We are currently the #1 ranked team in the state in our division, which is also a first in school history. Just so you now there are over 750 schools in the state in our division and we are the current #1.
Rima Mattar
This was probably the best experience of my life. I learned so much in these two summers. Beauty pageants are not what many think they are. They are tough, and the competition is tougher. Miss Emigrants is apart of a huge emigrant festival originating and put on every summer by Dhour Shweir, one of my favorite towns in Lebanon, Majdlaya is my first of course. This festival brings thousands of emigrants back together. I won the Miss Emigrants beauty pageant in the year 2002 as my reign began. It was amazing how many people I met. Everyone was wonderful. I attended and supported many different events in Lebanon including the presidential palace and met the Lebanese President Mr. Emile Lahoud. When I returned back to the U.S the Lebanese American Association (LAA) were also very supportive and we were planning to hold a beauty pageant here in San Francisco (due to the war it was cancelled). They just had their annual banquet and Miss Emigrants 2003, Miriam Habib and I were invited as guest of honors, which was a privilege to attend. Miriam is this year’s queen from Texas, whom I crowned this past summer in Lebanon. I was also one of the judges in this year’s pageant. It seems as though this event and beauty pageant are growing bigger and bigger every year. I think it's a great way to bring all the emigrants back together. Dhour Shweir is doing a great job with this. I will continue to help with this festival every year whether it is from here in the U.S or in Lebanon. My goals right now are to graduate of course, and go to college, put together some kind of fundraiser for the orphanages in Lebanon (this year), and go back to Lebanon and enter Miss Lebanon within the next 3 years.
Rima passing the crown to the new Ms. Emigrants 2004 after holding the title for one year
Rima and Mazin Sameer Boushakra are two great athletes from our community who had great achievements this year in US regional gymnastics championship. Rima qualified to compete at the Regional Championship in Vegas after placing fourth in all California in April 2004. Mazin qualified to compete at the National Junior Olympic elite championship in San Diego after receiving his highest score for the season at the regional championship in Phoenix Arizona. They both work so hard both at gym and at school and keep their parents busy traveling all year long. They train about 20 hours a week and still manage to keep an excellent GPA.
Our best congratulations to Rima and Mazin and keep the good work!
Here are some pictures of both of them competing at the regional championships.
ADY held its first meeting during the ADHA party on January 24th, 2004. Around 25 persons attended and shared their thoughts about the need and importance to have an ADY chapter to cater for the needs of our community youth and organize events for youth only and give them the chance to interact and communicate with their fellow Druze youth. The idea was received with great enthusiasm and everyone started thinking of activities to do and of events to organize.
An emailing list was started and druze youth exchanged addresses and phone numbers.
Three weeks after the first meeting, the youth met again in San Francisco on February 14th, this time to cheer Rob Rafeh’s school basketball team who won the tight game 51-41 and is currently playing in the North California State Finals.
Then a week later, the ADY met again on February 22nd at El-Attrach residency in Martinez.
Many thanks to Mrs Randa El-Attrach for the delicious salad and deserts which made some people gain a few extra pounds that they luckily managed to loose later through playing bowling. ADS provided pizza.
The meeting included a report on the planned skiing trip which unfortunately canceled due to high costs. The group decided to replace it instead with a trip to Malibu Grand Prix in Redwood City on March 13th. After the meeting, the group went bowling in nearby Diablo Lanes.
On March 13th, 2004, the ADY group met again to let some steam out on the race track of Malibu Grand Prix.
On 07-10-04, ADY Spent an afternoon at Paramount's Great America where they enjoyed the different rides and activities. It turned out to be a great success with the highest ADY attendance so far. Dina ElAttrach organized the entire event, which was her first experience ever in organizing similar events. Great Job Dina!
Here are few pictures and a nice movie :-)
Pictures and Movie were taken by Fadi Aridi. His wonderful work has been a great contribution to the sucess of this webpage.
“Our son…. is looking forward to meeting with everyone. We are noticing, also he is expressing, a pleasure in being with all of you. We hope that your activities continue to attract him (them). We are very grateful for your efforts. It's about time we allowed the young to be involved in their own growth in our Druze community. Usually, they are only followers for what the adults are planning on the important, yet rare, occasions, where only adults are interacting and the young are watching, feeling lost, inadequate, silent, and alienated. Our son loves to be involved in outdoor activities, especially camping, the Lebanese mountain has taught him a few things that might come handy. Thank you again for this new program.”
“In my opinion, if the ADS failed and the ADY succeeded, it will be a great VICTORY. They are (the youth), the ones who might get lost, the parents will some how survive”