On the women’s confidence in Waterloo drew her to the West Bank

There was a time when Hannah Carter was consumed with new designer handbags, sunglasses and the next piece of Tiffany jewelry she most wanted to buy. tiffany charms

Now, the 28-year-old Waterloo woman sees the world through different eyes.

On this her third visit to the West Bank, Carter wants to help other students who are there for the first time to become more active when they return home. She also wants to share the stories of those living in the West Bank with family and friends here. ghd mk4

“My main purpose is to teach participants to translate what they have seen into action back home,’’ she said. True Religion sale

Last year, the freelance photographer visited Palestinian and Israeli communities as a part of a youth Christian conference sponsored by Knox Presbyterian Church in Waterloo.

Soon, Carter will be attending Sabeel’s 5th International Young Adult Conference in Jerusalem, from July 21 to Aug. 1 — this time buying her own ticket. She sold five designer handbags, including a Coach and Burberry purse and a Tiffany bracelet on her Facebook page, raising $700 toward her trip to the West Bank. Swiss Replica Watches

“It was life-changing,’’ Carter said of her trip last summer. It motivated her to return.

Sabeel is an ecumenical grassroots liberation theology movement among Palestinian Christians. The word Sabeel means “the way” in Arabic.

She also visited the area last December when she went to Cairo and participated in the Gaza Freedom March.

Last July, she visited the old city of Jerusalem, and Palestinian cities in the West Bank including Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jericho and Hebron.

Conference participants toured Muslim refugee camps and spoke to Palestinian farmers whose fields had been torched. At one stop, a little girl grabbed her hand and then pointed to the hills where Israeli soldiers were keeping watch.

Soon after, the soldiers were near the bus carrying the students, wondering why they were speaking to Palestinian farmers.

“The little girl squeezed my hand and she smiled, but I could see the fear in her eyes,’’ Carter said. “It was hard to drive away.

“When I see stuff like that I can’t come home and forget about it,’’ she said.

For Carter, her Christian upbringing at Knox Presbyterian — and now as a 10-year member of the student-run church, Embassy in Waterloo — motivates her to help others.

Carter believes God is guiding her to the West Bank.

“I can look at an Israeli kid and my heart breaks and I can look at a Palestinian kid and my heart breaks,’’ she said. “No kid should have so much hate for someone they have never even met.

“It affects me so much that this tells me this is where God wants me, because I’m so passionate about it,’’ she said.

Carter said she doesn’t see herself as pro-Palestinian or anti-Israeli.

“We are here for human rights,’’ she said. “Both groups have a long history of being hurt.

“I’m not ‘anti’ the people, I’m ‘anti’ to what the government is doing,’’ she said.

Carter said she has spoken to Israeli soldiers who said the building of walls and fences is a way of maintaining control to prevent another Holocaust.

When she returns home, Carter hopes to make presentations with her photographs at area churches and to student groups at the University of Waterloo.

“I can use my photographs to educate Canadians back home,’’ she said. “I have a voice and I want to use it.’’