HASLEMERE resident Elaine Waddington is spending three months as a human rights observer in Israel and Palestine to witness the realities of life under occupation.

She is working as a volunteer in the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme, accompanying vulnerable individuals, monitoring checkpoints and helping residents access medical care, schools or their farmland, until the middle of May.

Her presence and that of fellow volunteers on the programme is to help protect those at risk from violence and report any incidence of human rights violations.

A member of the town’s 3 Counties Church, she has previously worked in Egypt, Lebanon and Yemen as a teacher. Before she left, Elaine said: “As I go about my life, buying groceries at the supermarket, receiving a prescription from my GP at Haslemere Health Centre, stopping at a pedestrian crossing to let the lollipop man shepherd school children across, seeing people walk unhindered to one of our many local churches, I think of families living in Palestine who are also striving to do the same things but often cannot do so freely.

“This is a longstanding and worsening situation and it will be a privilege to walk alongside Palestinians and to witness what life is like for them, to be with them and to support them in their daily challenges, as they go to work or to school, or face their home being demolished, or their olive trees being uprooted.”

• On her return Elaine would love to share her first-hand experiences and what she has witnessed with any group who would like to host her.

To make contact email [email protected].

For more information go to www.eappi.org