Wednesday, January 30, 2013

U of Arizona Birthright Trip to Israel--esp Hof Ashkelon

from:  http://arizona.hillel.org/home/aboutus/blog/posting.aspx

In late December two Birthright groups, one from the Seattle area and one from Arizona, presented "stations" at schools describing their US communities.  The Arizona group met with a Hof Ashkelon school and the Seattle group was in a school in Kiryat Malachi.  Here is a comment from one member of the Arizona group and a picture of the group:


Birthright participant shares thoughts on Hof Ashkelon school visit

Working with children has been my passion ever since I can remember. I have worked with kids of all ages and have played a leadership role for many years. Having the opportunity to hang out, play, teach, and interact with the students in Israel was eye opening. The students really enjoyed each of the ten stations that we had set up for them. Both the children and the students in our Birthright group learned a lot from this activity. Having met these students has made me realize how fortunate we are to have a strong partnership with Hof Ashkelon and has encouraged me to stay connected with this community in the future.  Being able to interact with "real" Israelis showed our group that people are so much more than what you just hear and see via television, the internet, and other social media outlets. Interacting with the children made me aware that people have so much in common and the media does not always portray that accurately. I feel honored that I was able to have this experience and I will continue to share what I learned from my visit to Hof Ashkelon with others.

No comments: