This past November we were privileged to welcome a very enthusiastic volunteer named Barbara Alper. She came from our partner community Palm Beach, Florida in order to carefully investigate, promote and strengthen volunteering in the Tzahar region. Barbara visited every possible institution in order to find volunteer opportunities for Palm Beach residents in the area.

She visited "Livnot U'Lehibanot" and met with founder and director Aharon Botzer and community work coordinator Eli Yeffet in order to examine volunteer options, like painting bomb shelters in Tzfat.

And of course, she didn't forget to lend her own hand renovating one of these shelters!

She also met with the "Aman" organization, which works in promoting youth volunteers in various frameworks in Tzfat, Hatzor and Rosh Pina. She received a thorough review of all the volunteer activities going on in the area, including organizations not directly connected with Partnership 2000.

One of Barbara's most meaningful experiences was meeting the trustees of the Youth Futures program.  "Words just can't describe their devotion, readiness and real faith in their roles", Barbara told us as her voice cracked with emotion.

No less powerful an experience was when Barbara met with participants in the "Educators' Exchange" program. Rachel, the project coordinator, described the meeting with Barabara this way:

"When I first met Barbara Alper in Rosh Pina the night before her visit with me at the schools, I saw that she was holding several sheets of paper."

"What is all that?", I asked. She showed me: they were all a special form that she had prepared for every school she was to visit. The forms included all kinds of pertinent information and a space to record detailed notes of her meetings-to-be.  This was so she could better plan and coordinate a suitable volunteer framework for each individual school! "

"Then I noticed another pile of paper and obviously asked her what they were for. Well, it was obvious that she came prepared. These were all pages downloaded from the internet that contained all contact information for every school she would be visiting in Tzahar! And I was thrilled to discover that she had gotten all this from our program's section on the Jewish Agency's P2K website. She already knew which programs were operating and understood the idea behind the work by reading these source pages."

"She met the principal of the ORT elementary school in Hatzor, who spoke about potential projects for volunteers, especially in music and the arts. Barbara suggested gardening, an idea that was enthusiastically approved. She then joined me for the photography and recording assignment of the singing classes. The song "Friends" was sent to Temple Beit Am in the framework of the song exchange. She experienced the pedagogical work of the Exchange first hand."

"In her visit to the Agamim United State School in Tzfat, she was welcomed by the principal and met with her to get acquainted and discuss volunteer needs for the school. The recommendation was to have projects with special days, like road safety and programs promoting community cooperation. She was then invited to listen to the song that was sent by the 6th grades to their peers at Temple Beit David, "The Day will Come" .

The class gave a special performance of the song just for her. But the definite highlight of the visit for Barbara was to be invited by the principal to participate in a regularly scheduled "appreciation" session where selected students from each class are recognized and thanked for their special efforts  in different capacities, like in helping friends, preparing homework and showing restraint: each student and his own personal challenges. The principal spoke with every student while the select group listened , and explained why each one merited this appreciation and reward. I translated what was said for Barbara and she became so emotional as the personal stories of the children's daily lives began to surface."

"She ended this lovely visit by taking a quick glance at Mirale's kindergarten and meeting very briefly with the principal and teachers of Rosh Pina's famous "Wilkomitz" school."

Barbara thanked everyone and emphasized that it would still take awhile to digest her tremendous experience and to take in all that she learned. Obviously we all hope to see the vision of the volunteer project come true.