There were six madrichim (part of a larger group actually) and they came on August 14th – Nov 28th. The rest of their group were on kibbutz Tzara.They had been in Israel for several months on Machon L’Madrichei Chutz l’Aretz and chose to do their volunteer work with us.

They were accommodated in the furnished apartment which P2K rents in a very pleasant neighbourhood of Beit Shemesh. They worked in the Benjamin Library, the Centre for the Aged and taught English at one of the Primary Schools. The people they worked with praised their dedication and commitment and were really sorry to see them go. They contributed a lot to the projects and made many friends among the professionals and the pupils.

If they wanted home hospitality we arranged this for them, but they were very independent and did all their cooking together in the apartment. We give them a nominal subsidy for food. I had them for dinner one evening at my home and it was good to get to know them on a personal basis.

They have returned SA in time for machaneh where they will serve as madrichim, together with the eight madrichim we sent from our region. Two other madrichim will go to Betar and Nezer (reform). All in all we sent ten madrichim from here. Three of them were officers and one served in a very special unit. The others are all waiting for “gius” in February. They all have experience in hadrachah and I am sure that they will be a most positive factor towards the success of the various camps.

The madrichim from Israel, arrived in SA a week in advance of the camps, in order to work on the tochnit with the madrichim there, and also to see a bit of the community and the country. They are being hosted by families in Cape Town and were also hosted in Johannesburg for three days.

Leon Singer, the National IUA P2K Chairman and his wife, hosted over 30 people to a “braai” in honour of the madrichim.

Kislev 5761 - December 2000