Last month the youngsters who are spending a year involved in community service in the various SNEC communities came home for a visit.  One day during this vacation, a seminar took place in which the youngsters met at the Partnership offices together with the group due to embark on their community service next year. The seminar was attended by Idit Gidon of the JAFI Education department, Yahal Porat of the Israel department, Asaf Ron - program coordinator, Sharon Conway - program coordinator in SNEC, Eshel Fram - Partnership director and the Partnership office's staff Orit and Nava.

The meeting was aimed at introducing the newcomers, first hand, to the activity taking place abroad, by listening to the experiences of the older crowd and holding joint activities.  Later on, the group was joined by the parents of next year's candidates, who heard about the project from the present shlichim.  Towards the end of the day, the parents of the present shlichim came along as well to exchange stories with the parents of the new candidates.

SNEC ISRAELI YOUNG EMISSARY UPDATE

In recognition of the 10th year of the SNEC Israeli Young Emissary program, a reunion party was held to coincide with Sharon Conway's recent visit to the region. Over 50 former Young Emissaries representing participants since its early beginnings joined together with Asaf Ron and Sharon to reminisce about the program, savor the memories and brainstorm about the future. It is clear that this group represents the future leadership of Israel. So many of the group spoke of the impact of the program on their lives: in their personal success in the army, in their perspective about life as Jews, in their deepened appreciation of their own country.

Most impressive was the depth of their connections with their host families and community members in SNEC. We heard so many stories of wonderful visits with their host families in Israel and ongoing email and phone contact with teens. The people to people connections have endured over many years and the living bridges that have been built are a reminder of the powerful mission of this successful program. Further discussions on how to capitalize on the skills of this group and how to improve recruitment of qualified candidates from the region were held.

We are proud of our alumni who now work as leaders in the Afula/Gilboa region:
Tamar Salameh (Stamford 2000-1 ) who is the Youth Director of the Afula Municipality, and Nava Chen (Westport 2000-1) who is the Living Bridge Coordinator for our own JAFI Partnership 2000 office.  We expect there will be more in the future! Stay tuned for more alumni information