The Miami work brigades arrived in Or-Akiva (on time!) at 2 PM on Monday October 28th. After viewing the "Children Against Terror" art exhibit (7A), a program that the GMJF is a partner in, located in the lobby of the new Cultural Arts Center, the group broke up into their pre-assigned work brigades.
There were seven work brigades:
two worked in public parks in gardening and sprucing up,
two worked in kindergartens, painting the outdoor equipments, and producing wall murals,
one was assigned to work in the Ulpanit, a religious high school for girls, producing, along with some of the girls, a Jewish Community Wall,
another brigade was assigned to the Rothschild Elementary School where they worked, along with the schools' English teachers in producing a special Miami Wall and teaching aids for the English classes upcoming unit.
The seventh brigade worked along side of the members of the senior citizens work cooperative, assembling packages of skin cream. Proceeds from their work were credited to the local members of the cooperative who rely on their work to augment the very low government pension, are, for the most part, immigrants from the former Soviet Union. The Yiddish Choir that developed on the spot was completely ad-hoc.
The final brigade was engaged in the important work of security. Four manned police patrol vehicles, while another five were drafted to serve as security guards at the municipal library and at the four entrances to the Or-Akiva Orot mall.
After long hours of hard work, the brigade members were invited to the homes of local residents for relaxation and talk.
At 18:30 all members of the work brigades, and their Or-Akiva co-workers met at the Mirlman Community center for a communal meal and an evening of Israeli singing and, spontaneous, dancing led by Shaul Limor.
Tired, but satisfied, the workers climbed on the buses after a days work well done
Heshvan 5763 - November 2002