A committed team
Ahmed Alazbat
Management and general coordination of the association
Ahmed Alazbat is a social worker, graduated from the University College of Applied Sciences in Gaza. He was born in Gaza, but his family is originally from Yaffa in Palestine. Since 2016, he has been a refugee in Switzerland. He has eight years of experience in social work in Gaza with international and national organizations (UNRWA, Palestine Trauma Centre UK, Youth Society Sabra Charity, Ma'an Development Centre, Sharik Family Centre). As a group leader at the Palestinian Red Crescent during the 2008, 2011 and 2014 wars, his work consisted of training specialists in psychosocial work in war situations and providing psychological consultations to child victims of war and their families. In 2013, he founded the Sama Jafra center, where art and culture are at the heart of psychosocial work. In Geneva, Ahmed has performed various social, educational and cultural work contracts with refugees, elderly people and typically and atypically developing children, for the Geneva Red Cross, Hospice General and the University of Geneva's Espace de Vie Enfantine.
Julie Franck
Management and general coordination of the association
Julie Franck has a PhD in psychology and is a lecturer at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Geneva. She teaches and conducts research on cognitive processes related to language in infants, children (typical and atypical) and adults in the Laboratory of Experimental Psycholinguistics and Speech Therapy. Since 2017, she has developed various research, teaching and civic engagement programs at the University related to the Geneva migrant population. She is the coordinator of an inter-faculty course on forced migration and the UNI-R program, and president of the association Cafés solidaires, which offers a weekly meeting space between academics and migrants in the University cafeteria. She was in Gaza in November 2018 where she met with psychologists and social workers from the Sama Jafra Center, as well as professors from the Faculty of Psychology at Al Quds University.
Jean-Sébastien has a PhD in physics and teaches physics and mathematics in Geneva. He is also a field trainer and lecturer in physics didactics at the University of Geneva.
Responsibility: Management of the association's budget and accounts
Riccardo is Professor of Political Sociology at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. He has conducted extensive research on Palestinian refugees and the role of UNRWA, including the impact of international aid during the second Intifada and the role of national artists in peacebuilding.
Responsibility: Collaboration in the drafting of the association's international cooperation projects and in fundraising
Ehud (Udi) Levy studied curative education and social therapy. He established an institution for adults with special needs in the Negev desert in Israel, where he lived for 21 years before running a similar institution in Switzerland.
Responsibility: Collaboration in the management of administrative aspects of the association and in fundraising
Fred has worked in Ramallah as the head of the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance office and was the director of operations for Mines Advisory Group and Handicap International in Gaza. He is a program manager at the International Centre for Humanitarian Demining.
Responsibility: Collaboration in the drafting of the association's international cooperation projects and in fundraising
Ana is a student in International Relations at the University of Geneva.
Responsibility: Collaboration in the writing of the association's newsletters and communication
Maria has a degree in International Relations and is studying law at the University of Geneva.
Responsibility: Association secretary
Tristan is a physician, graduated from the University of Geneva, and is currently training in child psychiatry and psychotherapy. He works with adolescents with mental disorders, and uses the signed rhythm method as a therapeutic tool with them.
Responsibility: Collaboration in the organization of exchanges between Geneva and Palestine and in communication