Below is the latest newsletter from ARROWSA international affiliate Indra CEO David Oddie regarding the upcoming global youth intercultural exchange congress in Bethlehem.  If anyone would like to support the South African team's attendance please contact ARROWSA chair Mary Lange at marylange@telkomsa.net Indra Congress  2016 Bethlehem APPEAL

Dear friends of Indra During the week of the 17th July we are holding the 2016 Indra Congress in Bethlehem.  We are the guests of Marina Barham of Al Harah Theatre in collaboration with Dr Hala Yamani at Bethlehem University.  This is a significant event which, over several years, Marina and I have worked towards.   The current level of tension in the West Bank has led to the decision that the Congress would only be open to people over 18 years old.  Sadly this excludes a large percentage of our usual participants for these live events.  We do, however, plan to link up the Indra hubs digitally to enable wider virtual participation. It is also unfortunate that professional colleagues and friends of Marina in the Arab world will also be excluded as the Israeli authorities will not grant them access to the West Bank.  Despite this, we are gathering from the Indra hubs a group of young practitioners, educators and activists who are keen to show solidarity with our friends in Beit Jala and are determined to attend.  For some of these young participants raising the resources to travel is a major obstacle. I am therefore making an appeal to help build a travel fund to help in getting participants to Bethlehem.  It will be a major life experience for them and an opportunity to share practice, ideas and experience with arts workers from Al Harah and the Palestinian Arts Organisation Network. Small contributions are welcomed and appreciated: small amounts quickly add up towards an air fare.  If you would like to contribute or you can recommend sources of sponsorship and support, do please get in touch with me. Best wishes David David Oddie indracongress@hotmail.co.uk