Last week we hosted the Kushner delegation in Ofakim.

They arrived on Wednesday afternoon and spent 4 days in Ofakim. Netzarim College was responsible for the program and the participants stayed with hosting families from the Olpana and the Yeshiva here in Ofakim.

During the visit the Kushner students together with their hosts planned and guided activities in the elementary schools regarding Jerusalem Day which will take place next week.

This activity was a great success. 

They had an entertaining evening of magic and Illusion and packed food packages for needy families.

On the second evening we all went to Ofakim Park and had a social evening  with a Barbeque dinner, the mayor of Ofakim and the community center manager joined us to this dinner and gave the delegation a few word of welcome.

On Friday the children went to see the new settlement of Netzarim which is being built in Eshkol regional council (20 minute form Ofakim).

There they received an explanation about the current situation of the ex-Gush Katif residents, Follows by a visit to the Still Memorial which originally was in Yamit, Sinai  and was re-build  after the evacuation We ended the day with a picnic in Eshkol national Park and went to get prepared for Shabbat.

Shabbat dinner was celebrated in the Bne-Akiva youth movement center together with the movement members.

On Saturday the students stayed more than planned and participated in the Lag Ba'omer celebrations which included bam fire and singing until  midnight.

I want to take this opportunity and thank greatly Rafi Tvizer' the head of the living bridge sub-committee and his family, for the great effort in making this visit a fruitful, successful and enjoyable for the entire delegation.
 
All the participants will receive a CD with all the pictures that were taken during the visit as well as the details of all of the participants so that they can stay in touch with each other in the future.

We had a wonderful time and I hope that this visit will open a window for the participants from Ofakim to come and visit the Kushner participants in Metro West.

 Best Regards

 Tal Morag, Living Bridge Coordinator