Ricky Yihye with former Bialik Rogozin school volunteer Michal Swerdlow
A few weeks ago, the principal of
the Bialik Rogozin School in South Tel Aviv, invited me to attend a special
evening dedicated to all the interns and volunteers.
Currently, we have a WUJS participant volunteering at the school and helping
teach English to the children of the refugees and foreign workers.
The
evening was supposed to start at 6:30PM. I was
happy for the invitation and arrived a little early. I did not plan to stay long, just
pop in, to show support for the school and our participant. When I arrived I saw it
was something more serious then I originally thought.
At the entrance a few
students greeted guests with a smile and referred them to the dinning hall. In
the dinning hall, the tables were laid with fruits, pastries, soft drink, hot drinks,
and scented candles. As time passed more and
more people arrived and the room was filled almost entirely with volunteers.
Everyone gathered in
the auditorium and the ceremony began with a song sung by children in more than
five languages - English, Hebrew, Russian, Arabic, and Spanish. It was exciting to see
and hear them sing together, especially in Hebrew so well. Following the song, the principal spoke and introduced some honored guests:
Minister of Education, Gideon Saar, Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, Mrs. Aliza Olmert, former Supreme Court Justice Yitzhak Zamir and his wife and many more, all of whom made room in their schedule and hearts to come to this event and say thank you to all the volunteers.
Of course the subject of their deportation came up and the unknown future of these children.
This was one of those evenings that you feel lucky to have been a part of.
It made me happy to see that they are in good hands and that we, even if indirectly, are taking a part in shaping their educational future.
