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Time & Leisure ^ 49<br />
One Year Program<br />
Makes A Difference<br />
Galeet Dardashtl<br />
Karen Hayeems<br />
Before coming to Israel for the<br />
year, we made a pact with<br />
ourselves to try and experience as<br />
much as possible during our stay.<br />
We were given an opportunity to do<br />
just that by volunteering.<br />
Numerous organizations, each with<br />
their own projects were brought to<br />
our disposal. Two separate accounts<br />
of each of our personal experiences<br />
follow.<br />
When my partner and I began<br />
volunteering with our Ethiopian<br />
family, we were a little nervous.<br />
The family was very shy in the<br />
beginning, and we didn’t know<br />
exactly how to interact with them.<br />
They were always extremely<br />
hospitable and we had a lot of fun<br />
with the children at each visit, but<br />
in the first few months, we<br />
sometimes felt frustrated with our<br />
Inability to communicate with one<br />
another. As time went by, our<br />
differences seemed less and less<br />
important as the family began to<br />
trust us and open up to us. I've<br />
learned a great deal about my<br />
Ethiopian family after the time<br />
we’ve spent together.<br />
I think that the volunteers serve<br />
as an encouragement and support<br />
for the Ethiopian immigrants who<br />
still have not been completely<br />
assimilated into Israeli life and<br />
don’t know what to expect. It has<br />
been an experience from which we<br />
have all benefitted and eqjoyed as<br />
we became very comfortable with<br />
one another<br />
would go and speak with her or<br />
take her to do some food shopping,<br />
but most of my time with her was<br />
spent listening. I learned of her<br />
difficult past and of the obstacles<br />
she overcame. She also made me<br />
realize how important it would be<br />
to fulfill the mitzvah of Bikur<br />
Holim and to take care of my<br />
parents in their old age. One<br />
should never forget the sacrifices<br />
they have made in raising their<br />
children and we should look<br />
forward to being able to return<br />
their kindness and care when the<br />
need should arise.<br />
Those few hours spent with her<br />
on a weekly basis throughout the<br />
year gave me the chance to "break"<br />
from my daily routine of studies<br />
and having fun with friends. I met<br />
a truly kind person and gained a<br />
better understanding of Israeli life.<br />
Yad Sarah is an organization<br />
which supplies medical equipment<br />
to those in need, as well as<br />
providing services in the<br />
community such as home visits<br />
with the elderly.<br />
Through this organization I was<br />
set up with an elderly woman who<br />
unfortunately was unable to leave<br />
her home alone. Other than my<br />
weekly visits, she rarely heard<br />
knocks on her door, or the ring of<br />
the telephone from her children. I
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