Tikkun Olam Empowerment! Coexistence in Jaffa

Leilani Albin, a 10-month coexistence track participant, writes about her experiences volunteering at Aros El Bahar, an organization dedicated to women's empowerment among the Arab population in Jaffa.  

Applications are open now for Tikkun Olam's 5 and 10-month programs beginning in September 2013.  Visit www.tikkunolamisrael.org/apply-now to get started!

A little while after I arrived on the Tikkun Olam Coexistence Track, I began my work volunteering at an NGO dedicated to empowering the women of Tel Aviv-Yafo. It is run by both Jewish and Arab women, and strives to give underprivileged women of Yafo a place where they can have a support system, feel safe, come to learn, and be part of a close community. Women go there for any number of the services offered including mentoring, entrepreneurial guidance, job placement, support groups, computer classes, Arabic classes, and now English classes. In addition to offering a support system and classes, the center teamed up with an Israeli designer and created a unique line of plush dolls called “Jaffa Dolls.” A group of women who attend the center make the dolls and when they are sold the women receive a portion of the profit. The dolls have become tremendously successful and at the launch that was held at the end of last year they sold out of their entire stock. As a side project in addition to my teaching efforts, I have begun helping to find stores that will sell the dolls Internationally and am working to create a network for sales in the US.

A couple of months ago when I first met with the women who wished to take an English class, I asked them why they wanted to learn English and what they wanted to use it for. Their answers ranged from wanting to start a small business, to having the desire to be able to give people directions in English when asked. The women had all different backgrounds and were at all different levels in their English speaking abilities. I found a middle ground, and began teaching the women using topics that were of interest to them. First conversational skills, then foods, restaurant topics, menus and ordering, travel, and directions. They are very excited to begin geography next week.

The women who attend classes at Arous Elbahar come from difficult backgrounds and have not led easy lives. It is wonderful for them to have this place that they can go for support and to learn, but as I have worked with them I often see the leftover effects from the difficult lives they have. One of my students is often absent from class and her face is full of sadness… she refuses to talk about her home life, and the women often console her when she declines to mention what is wrong. Some women bring their children to class with them, because they cannot afford daycare or a babysitter… they always apologize because they feel as though they are disrupting the lesson, but I always tell them that it’s great to have the children in the room with us. Sometimes I worry that if they feel the children are not welcome in class they will stop coming. In actuality, I think that when the kids are in the room everyone smiles and laughs a little more, and it brightens the day.

I have one student who’s dream is to teach English in a school in Yafo. She never misses a class, and shows up excited to learn every week. She was moving at a faster pace than the rest of the class, and had completed a higher level in English while in University, so I have begun tutoring her on the side… we meet after class and I give her additional homework assignments that focus on separate topics than what I teach in the classes. The more I give her and teach her, the more empowered she seems.

The experience that I have had teaching English has been so rewarding over these past few months, that I have begun seeking additional volunteer placements in this field.

   

Tikkun Olam in Action: Working with Refugees in South Tel Aviv

Sarah Mednick, a 10-month Social Action Track participant from upstate New York, has been volunteering at Hagar and Miriam.  The organization provides guidance and support for pregnant refugees from Eritrea, Darfur and other parts of Africa, who live in south Tel Aviv.  Below, Sarah tells about her amazing initiative to make the organization work more efficiently!

There are still a few spaces left for Tikkun Olam's 5-month Spring program starting February 12!  Click here to register now and have incredible volunteering experiences like Sarah this Spring!

This Wednesday at Hagar & Miriam we finally received our ‘next steps’ and ‘intake’ forms in Tigrinya, the language spoken in Eritrea. (99% of the women we see are from Eritrea and don’t speak much English or Hebrew). This will literally change my life. Why? So many reasons!

When I first started doing intakes, we had to write down by hand the next thing that each woman had to do. This took about 10 minutes per woman, since often they had to do a lot of things. Additionally, almost none of them can read English or Hebrew, so they didn’t understand and we had to find someone to help explain it to them. This took time as well. There was no standard form to give them that said “here’s what you do now.” We just let them go. Also, we spent about 10 minutes with each woman at the beginning of the intake trying to determine her age, where she’s from, how many months pregnant, etc. A few weeks ago, I wrote up a special intake form for the women to fill out while they wait, so we can get past the basic info in 30 seconds and take more time to really talk to them.

These forms literally changed my life as a volunteer. Also, I started using them the week that my friend Clara joined me for intakes. She does such a fabulous job keeping the women in line, determining if they even need to see me, and making sure I that go quickly with each client so I can see more of them. Together, we have made serious headway in making Hagar & Miriam more efficient.

But even with the forms in English, we still needed someone who speaks Tigrinya to help them understand where we’ve directed them to go. There are two Eritrean nurses who volunteer on Wednesdays, but they are stretched so thin that they certainly don’t have time to speak to every woman we see. So I’ve been working with another Eritrean volunteer the past few weeks to translate the forms. On Wednesday, we got them. We also printed out maps of where certain doctors’ offices are so they can just give the sheet to a cab driver if they can’t figure out the location on their own. Here are photos!

Johnny from Eritrea. He helps us out on occasion. Here’s him with the completed translation.

Clara cutting and gluing to make it all one sheet. Almost there!

I think that the women will appreciate these new developments!

Now we can give each woman a sheet containing information on pre-natal vitamins, health insurance, doctors’ offices, and blood test locations all in her native language. We highlight the things she needs to do and can be sure that she will do them. She can also now fill out the initial intake form in her native language, so that she doesn’t need any help from English speakers. This means that she’ll answer all of the questions correctly, and won’t leave any questions blank. Not only does this make the volunteers’ lives so much easier, not only does it mean that they are more likely to get the right care, it means that maybe they can feel a little more empowered in the whole process.

I love my job.

True Coexistence in Tel Aviv-Jaffa

Recently a classic Tikkun Olam reflection from Tikkun Olam alumna Abigail Winard appeared on the Masa: Israel Journey blog.  Read the full story here, and here's a small taste:

"At Hassan Araffe, a school located in the neighborhood of Ajami, I taught English to fifth and sixth graders who also studied Hebrew and Arabic daily as well.  Jewish teachers worked to instill within Muslim and Christian students a sense of pride and encouragement in developing their English skills. Seeing a young Jewish man wearing a yarmulke lean over to a young Muslim girl to help her with an English assignment presented the epitome of coexistence."

A Break for the Kids of Southern Israel

Ian Cohen, a current participant in Tikkun Olam's Social Action Track, and an avid lacrosse player in his spare time, recently helped operate a lacrosse and basketball camp for kids from Be'er Sheva during Operation Pillar of Defense.  The camp offered the kids a much-needed respite from the constant rocket fire that Be'er Sheva saw during the operation.

Read what Ian had to say about his experience below, and click here to register for Tikkun Olam's Spring semester!

Ian with a student at one of his volunteering locations in Tel Aviv

Lacrosse has always been a hobby for me, but it recently took on a deeper meaning.  I am currently spending a year living and volunteering in Israel with the Tikkun Olam in Tel Aviv-Jaffa program (www.tikkunolamisrael.org).  During the recent conflict between Israel and Gaza, I was given the opportunity to participate in what will certainly be one of the more memorable experiences during my time here.

A few weeks ago, before Operation Pillar of Defense began, I joined the Tel Aviv Lacrosse club.  A week later, after hostilities broke out, I received a mass text message from the director of Israel Lacrosse asking if any of the club members would be interested in helping to run a lacrosse clinic for kids later in the week. I quickly jumped at the chance to work with Israeli youth and teach them a new sport. With the help of some connections, Netanya Hoops for Kids and Israel Lacrosse were able to organize a bus full of kids from Be'er Sheva to come north to Netanya to stay in a boarding school for a few nights, to get away from the rockets and missiles raining down on their homes.  In the meantime, we would treat them to basketball and lacrosse clinics – a welcome change for them from being cooped up in bomb shelters.

When we arrived at the boarding school, we set up in an open field near where some local kids were playing on a playground.  Within minutes of putting the equipment down, some students came over and snatched up the sticks, trying to figure out how to use this foreign device. I showed some of them some basics, but they were really just interested in throwing the ball and shooting on the net. While this was happening, students in the classroom got wind of what was going on outside, and began pressing their faces up to the windows, and even hanging out the windows trying to get the kids with the sticks to throw the balls into the classroom. Just as the teachers broke up the mayhem and brought the kids inside, the children from Be'er Sheva arrived, right on cue.

Ian (far right) with other members of the lacrosse and basketball clubs, running the camp

After an introduction from the director of Netanya Hoops for Kids, we split up into groups and began coaching.  While the kids had never seen lacrosse before, they were open to learning about this new sport.  I made the most of my time with each group, and tried to teach them as much as possible. After the groups had been through each station, we regrouped and talked as a large group once more before dispersing.

While the activity itself was short-lived, I can certainly say that this will be one of the more memorable experiences I will take away from these ten months with Tikkun Olam. I take a great sense of pride in feeling like I made a difference in these kid’s lives by being a part of a great activity and giving them some respite from the situation back home.  It was a great feeling getting to see the joy on the kids' faces, and knowing I was able to help give them a short break from the troubles back home.  I hope that there won't be a need for another clinic like this, but if there is, I'll definitely be happy to help out again. 

Operation "Pillar of Defense" Through The Eyes of Tikkun Olam

The following article was written by Galit Roichman, who teaches the Tikkun Olam participants a weekly class on Israeli society through Israeli film.  The article appeared last week in Hebrew on Ynet (link), and appears below in translation.  Here is a link to Galit's website on Israeli film.

Israel's "Pillar of Defense," Through The Eyes of Others

Whoever has not had the chance to see the Israeli reality from the viewpoint of foreigners has missed a golden opportunity to get a humorous and tragic perspective on the most basic raw materials of our lives," says a lecturer on cinema for volunteers from abroad.

by Galit Roichman, November 19, 2012

On Thursdays between 2:00-5:00 PM I can be found in world repair.  It's less strange than it sounds.  Tikkun Olam (repairing the world), in addition to being a key idea in Jewish discourse, is the name of a service-learning program that offers Jewish young adults from around the world an in-depth experience of Israeli society.

During the course of 5 or 10 months, these young adults live in south Tel Aviv and in Jaffa, and engage in volunteering and study that offers them a better understanding of the reality of life in this corner of the Middle East.

If once the conventional wisdom was that we need to show Jewish tourists from abroad the beauty and magic of the promised land, to whet their appetites for its joys and pleasures, today a different approach has taken hold – let's invite our Jewish brothers and sisters from across the sea to see Israel as it really is.  Come journey with us not only on the scenic journey through Masada, the mountainous Jordan and the Kotel, but let's also give them a chance to see the back yard, such as the one found in the area of the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station and the impoverished neighborhoods of Jaffa.

These folks do not come here to be impressed; they come here to take part in the project, to influence, to give and above all – to belong.  These stormy days that are passing over all of us are not passing over the participants of Tikkun Olam, world repairers. 

Last Thursday I arrived to Tikkun Olam to meet the participants of the new semester, and to start my series of lectures on Israeli society through the lens of cinema.  A bit before I started, the group's coordinator asked me for a couple of minutes so that she could brief the group on the security situation in the south of Israel and to the Pillar of Defense that arose in its footsteps.

What can I say, whoever has not had the chance to see the Israeli reality from the viewpoint of outsiders has missed a golden opportunity to get a humorous and tragic perspective on the basic raw materials of our lives.

The coordinator described the situation precisely – rockets falling on the south of Israel and the IDF attacking in Gaza, and explains the home front guidelines – to remain alert when in public spaces, and to know where the protected areas are that they will need to go to in the event of a siren.

The program participants (all in their 20s), respond with a volley of questions: what is the chance that the war will reach Tel Aviv?  In the event that missiles fall in the Tel Aviv area, will the program evacuate them from the danger zone and order them plane tickets home? How can they inform the U.S. embassy of their whereabouts in Jaffa and south Tel Aviv so that, in an emergency, the embassy can locate them and ensure their wellbeing?

And the question of all questions – "When you tell us to stay generally alert, what does that actually mean? We understand that we need to be aware of suspicious items, but are there other warning signs that we, who aren't from Israel, need to know how to identify?"

The last question sparked within me a geyser of dark humor – "Yes. If someone gets on the bus and yells 'Allah hu-akbar!' you should jump out the window."

Twenty eyes turned to me with an embarrassed and confused look.  First, because you need to be Israeli to understand the joke, and second, because it's not totally clear to these foreign visitors why it is so pressing for a teacher of cinema to tell a joke at this exact time and place when there's a war on the horizon.

Dark Humor as Protective Armor

And so, it is pressing to the teacher and to the Israelis to use humor as one uses protective armor.  In order to form a basis for my argument, I rush to open the class with a scene from Walk on Water, Eitan Fuchs's film from 2004.

Eyal is a tough Mossad agent that has been assigned to go undercover as a tour guide, and to accompany Axel, a young German man who happens to be the grandson of a Nazi war criminal.  Eyal waits for Axel at the airport, and their first interaction goes like this:

Eyal:  Welcome to Israel.  There was just a terrorist attack here.
Axel:  Right here?
Eyal:  In Rishon LeTzion, it's a nearby city.  But don't worry, usually they just blow up once a day.   Usually, but maybe for you they'll do another attack.
Axel is silent.  He gives Eyal an embarrassed look.
Eyal:  I'm joking.
Axel:  Ahh.

I really love this scene.  In my mind, it demonstrates beautifully the relationship between the filmed cinematic text and the audience watching it.  An Israeli audience listens to the dialogue and laughs, a foreign audience hears the audience and is perturbed.  The Israelis, products of the culture that spawned the film, understand its subtext, while the foreigners experience only the text itself.

This is of course true of any film and the way in which it is received by the domestic audience and the foreign audience, but what is interesting in Walk on Water and makes it such a big success among foreign audiences, is that the film from the outset directs itself to foreign eyes and offers them a character with whom to identify.

Throughout most of its history, Israeli cinema was focused on itself and on the "homecoming," with which it sought to discourse.  During the last several years, a new trend developed, of which Walk on Water is one of the most typical representatives – cinema that seeks to view the essence of being Israeli not necessarily from our native viewpoint, but rather from the perspective of the foreigners who come to us from outside.

And so it is that the German (and Christian and gay) Axel is the one who teaches Eyal, the handsome but emotionally handicapped sabra, to walk on water, or rather shows him the lost path  to the sweet fruit of the sabra cactus, the one that was forgotten under the camouflage of sharp thorns.

German Axel is not alone.  Alongside him is Noodle, the cute Chinese child from the film named for him (Noodle, directed by Eilat Menhami, 2006), that brings relief to the weary soul of Miri, an IDF widow who lost two husbands to Israeli wars.  Miri, like Eyal the Mossad agent, surrendered under the weight of Israeli life, afflicted with grief and sorrow. 

Indeed the foreigner and the other, the same little Chinese boy that does not understand our painful subtext, is the one who manages to understand  her soul and to return to her a zest for life and hope for the future.

On a much lighter note, we can add to the group of "foreigners among us," films, The Band's Visit, in which members of the Egyptian band shed light on the sleepy lives of the residents of the fictional development town Beit HaTikvah.  And there are also more critical films – Eyal Halfon's What A Wonderful Place, and Ra'anan Alexandrovich's James' Journey to Jerusalem and Eran Riklis's The Human Resources Manager.  In short, a foreign perspective has refreshed the view of our homeland several times in the crop of Israeli films in recent years.

I intended to tell one thing, and then I digressed to farther off subjects of a different sort.  What I wanted to say was that on that same afternoon with Tikkun Olam, last Thursday, I was given the privilege to observe the reality of our lives from outside, through the embarrassed and curious perspective of twenty-something people who aren't from here and aren't committed to staying here even one dangerous minute.

An hour after we parted ways, a siren already went off in the Tel Aviv area.  I don't know how they felt at that moment and I'm sure it was very unpleasant.

They don't have the armor of dark humor that many of us sabras have, and I also suspect that the Jewish-Israeli term "Iron Dome" (the short-range missile defense system) sounds to them rather strange and not so comforting.

In any event, I have a strong feeling that next Thursday they will still be here, ready to repair the world in this stormy corner of the Middle East.  Good for them that they possess the bravery to continue volunteering, to continue to learn about us under fire.  To be a mirror for us.

Tikkun Olam in Action: Support for pregnant asylum seekers

Sarah Mednick, a current Social Action Track participant from upstate New York, wrote about her experience helping an asylum seeker from Eritrea seek medical care for her newborn baby.  

The author (far right) with her fellow Tikkun Olamers

As part of my volunteering with Tikkun Olam, I work with a unique organization called Brit Olam, which provides support to pregnant African asylum seekers in Tel Aviv through the Hagar and Miriam project. Most of the women that seek assistance from Hagar and Miriam are young (in their early 20's), from Eritrea, and first-time mothers without their own mothers or other female role models to support them. As a volunteer, I am helping with three main tasks: grant-writing, weekly intakes, and post-birth visits to check on the well-being of the new mothers and their babies.

A few days ago I did my first post-birth checkup with a client from Hagar and Miriam. Her name is Tsega and she's from Eritrea. She speaks a little English, a little Hebrew, but not so much in either language that she feels very comfortable going to doctors and navigating the healthcare system on her own. Her baby Asema (a girl who was born prematurely, but has enormous brown eyes and is simply beautiful) needs surgery, so there's a lot she has to do.

I went with her to a clinic to get all the right referrals, get a basic checkup for the baby, and generally make her feel like she's not alone. I was extremely nervous because I had no training for this whatsoever, but it went pretty well. A lot of it is just repeating things for her to calm her down, write them down in a simpler way, and make her feel like we'll be capable of getting things done. For my part in dealing with the Israelis who run these kinds of offices, the best thing is just to pretend that I know exactly what I'm doing. It makes everyone feel better, and it works out in terms of getting the information we need. If they think I know what I'm doing, they'll also be nicer to us. Fake it till you make it.

After Tsega and I left the clinic, she insisted that I go over to her house for lunch. I tried a few times to resist, but her response each time was “Ok! But come over.” Her neighborhood and house were pretty run down; she lives in an area of South Tel Aviv where a lot of asylum seekers live. As far as I can tell, Eritreans are very warm and kind (and not just to guests). They seem to be very sweet to each other, very friendly, and happier than I imagine I would be after going through what they've gone through.

When Tsega brought me to her home, she introduced me to a lot of people who were thrilled to meet me, excited to practice English, shook my hand a million times, and thanked me for helping her. Her husband gave me a soda from the store he works at and made us “Taita,” a spongy pita with meat and spices inside. It was absolutely delicious. Tsega and I chatted, she teased me about my paltry appetite and showed me pictures from her wedding. 

The experience was tough and confusing at times, both for me and for Tsega, but it felt great being able to help her and being able to see how much she appreciated it.  I can't wait to visit her again!

Applications are currently available for Tikkun Olam's Spring 5-month session, beginning February 12.  Click here to apply now!

Participant Perspectives: Jerusalem and Yom Kippur

At the very peak of the High Holy Day season, the Tikkun Olam group went on their first day tour of the year, to Jerusalem.  One day before Yom Kippur, the city is overflowing with visitors, who join with residents in attending synagogue from early in the morning until late at night and making their way to the Western Wall during the 10 days of "slichot" between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.  

Natanya, a participant in the Social Action Track from Chicago, tells about the group's tour where they learned about the complexity and intensity that define Jerusalem, and also about the unique experience of Yom Kippur in Tel Aviv, when the bustling metropolis becomes a ghost town.

Hi All! This week has been very interesting and I cannot wait to write about it.

On Monday, our program took us on a full day trip to Jerusalem. The theme of the day was Pluralism - in this context referring to the diversity of religious beliefs systems coexisting in one setting. There are three very distinct groups that live in three separate areas of Jerusalem, and struggle to find their own place in this very special city… secular Israeli Jews, Haredi Jews (ultra-orthodox), and Arabs. 

Our first stop was to Shuk HaKaparot - this chicken market opens up only during the High Holidays. It follows an ancient practice where each person purchases their own chicken, says a prayer regarding the redemption of their sins, and then slaughters it in front of them, cooks it and feeds it to the poor. Even though it was a little frightening it was interesting to experience.

Our second stop was to meet with a city planner - they took us to the basement of their office where they had created a complete scale model of Jerusalem, including the building that have been commissioned to be built in the next few years. He spoke about his profession and how sensitive he has to be to everyones needs, to try to accomodate several “cities” within one municipality. 

The third stop was a meeting with a VERY important feminist figure in Reform Judaism, Anat Hoffman, head of the "Women of the Wall" organization and a major leader for social and religious justice in Israel. She tried to break down three “myths” about women living in Israel. 1. That having had one female prime minister (Golda Meir) means that Israeli politics are inclusive of women. In fact, only 26/120 Knesset (parliament) members are female, which is way behind most Scandinavian/European countries. 2. That the women pioneers who were the first in Israel stood alongside the men with shovels and pics and help built Israel. Research shows that, in fact, those historical pictures of Israel women with shovels were staged, and women fell into the stereotypical jobs that they continue to hold today.  3. That the female soldier in Israel has the same combat/front line opportunities as men. In reality, 85% of females in the army hold clerical jobs, and studies show that their self worth drops significantly during their time in the military, while it is the opposite for men. 

The fourth stop was a meeting with a Chasidic community leader in a very religious neighborhood. He explained the challenges of maintaining faith and tradition in an ever-changing  more modern society. Overall the Jerusalem trip was great!

THE DAY THE CITY TURNED OFF: Yesterday and today we are observing the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur. Known in English as the day of Atonement, Jews are encouraged to spend the day in self-reflection, including a 25 hour fast. In Israel, EVERYTHING SHUTS DOWN. Last night we were walking in the middle of the highway, because there are no cars on the road. It is not a law… its not illegal to drive on Yom Kippur… its just that everyone knows this is not the day to drive. It was the most incredible social phenomenon.

My friends and I went to services on the roof of an office building. It was hosted by Bina, one of the organizations responsible for the Tikkun Olam program. The services were great - lots of songs, poems and readings. Everything was in Hebrew, but the parts I didn’t understand I can still get the gist of because the spirit on the roof was so strong. When we came home it was 11 at night, but our neighborhood was still going strong. Every family had taken plastic lawn chairs and were sitting in circles in the middle of the street with their neighbors, just… talking. It was incredible. 

Next week is Sukkot and I am planning some fun trips to other cities so prepare yourself for more fun blog posts! I will leave you with a picture for now.

The view of Old Jaffa from Clara Beach