Week 1 of Volunteering

Today I completed my first week of volunteering at the various Leo Baeck institutions in Haifa. On Sunday and Tuesday I worked with young elementary school age kids at Mercaz Ruth, essentially a summer camp. This was a very fun and interesting experience connecting with the kids through sports and play rather than language, as almost none of them knew any English. On Monday I worked at a summer camp for older kids at the Leo Baeck Center with my host, Itay. I enjoyed my time playing basketball with the kids and trying to follow a magic show in Hebrew. And the last two days I have been working with the PDD students (kids with Autism Spectrum Disorders) in a classroom at Leo Baeck. This has been fun as most of the kids are my age and speak pretty good English. A lot of them are very high functioning and only struggle with social interaction. Today, we spent most of the day planning, preparing and cooking a meal. I thought this was both a fun activity and a very practical lesson for the kids as they learn more independence. I enjoyed providing guidance during the activities and having some unorthodox conversations with the students. Although I have had a fantastic time this week volunteering and have learned a lot, I don't think my day to day activities will be the most memorable of this trip. It is impossible for me not to notice that Israel is very much at war right now. The mood of the country has changed dramatically since I arrived days before the ground invasion began, and before Israel suffered any civilian or military casualties. Now, after 32 young men with promising futures have been killed on the battlefield and 3 civilians killed in rocket attacks, Israel has once again been reminded of the tragic cost of war. They are a country that truly values life and it is difficult to stomach the losses the IDF has suffered. However, they fight on. The pain of the casualties has taken its toll but I think the country understands deep down that the Hamas tunnels are a grave national security threat and need to be destroyed before any cease-fire can even be considered. I hope the President can see that too. But I seriously doubt it.

Mercaz Ruth potato sack race

Me with the PDD students