Shalom,We can't believe that tomorrow will be our last day of community service and the following day we are leaving for the last 'leg' of our CAARI 2011 journey. It has been so wonderful - there really aren't words to describe how we all feel about the experience and the camraderie of the group.
We have volunteered in 7 schools in Tel Aviv, working with the Tel Aviv Education Department, 2 rehab hospitals - Ichilov and Reut Medical Center. Each of us has had a rewarding experience and feel our short 4 weeks has made a difference to us and to the students, principals, patients and hospital staff. We have been 'thanked' over and over, but we THANK them for the opportunity to work with them!
Others will be writing more. Here is Joy Cohen's (Toronto) impressions. Joy tutored English at HaGalil School.
"What a heartwarming feeling it is to walk into a school in Tel Aviv and be welcomed by children running to their classe, but waving to us and calling....'Hi Helen, Hi Joy!"
today was the last class of the week for us and we have only one more before we leave to return home. children in one of our groups brought us gifts of candy and a beautifully expressed thank you not, composed on a computer, which stated how much they appreciated the time we spent with them, helping with the conversational English.
We spend our mornings playing games, such as 'Simon Says', 'Head,Shoulders Knees & Toes', 'Hangman' and a variation of 'x's and o's' - all working on improving vocabulary, pronounciation and spelling, as well as having fun.
This was the first year that HaGalil has used the services of CAARI and we fell certain that they will request our services next year.
Regards,
Joy Cohen
