First Home Update – Dutch tulips arrived
On December 7, 2021, the First Home coordinator team had their annual meeting in Mashabei Sade. The results of 2021 were summed up and the upcoming year 2022 was discussed, olim families were met and the boxes with tulip bulbs were handed out to allĀ FH coordinators to be planted in different kibbutzim.
First Home in the Homeland is not just a program but a family. On December 7th our director and “mum” Elena Kovarsky gathered all the coordinators from different regions of Israel in kibbutz Mashabei Sadeh in the South of the country.
“First Home in the Homeland is not just a program but a family”
The success of the program and, of course, our participants depend on the job done by all these people. So, this makes team meetings very important: shared experience in dealing with everyday problems and finding the best solutions to provide them with a better environment and less stress! Most of our coordinators also made aliyah from different countries, so they are aware of all the problems olim encounter.
At the meeting, we summed up the results of 2021 and discussed the upcoming 2022, taking into account all the possible hurdles that Covid-19 restrictions might pose to our activities. We also talked about making our ulpan (school for intensive Hebrew study) more efficient, providing employment assistance to our program graduates, and finding ways of working during the pandemic.
After all the discussions were over, we walked around the kibbutz and visited two olim families living in Mashabei Sadeh.
We are working hard to prepare all the necessary for the 2022 newcomers! Let’s hope the next year will be successful and a little bit less challenging!
Elena Kovarsky with Darina and Andrey Balabanov in kibbutz Mashsabei Sadeh. They made aliyah from Belarus in September 2021 | Photo: JAFI
Unfortunately, our friends from Christians for Israel couldn’t visit us with the Tulip tour 2021 because of the new restrictions imposed recently. But we wanted to keep the tradition and handed out the boxes with tulip bulbs, sent to us as a sign of support and friendship to all the coordinators. The bulbs will go to 32 kibbutzim and the coordinators will invite the olim families to plant tulips together. And as we will plant the flowers waiting them to bloom in the coming months it will remind us of the olim arriving in Israel and ‘planting in the Homeland to blossom later on’.
Thank you! We appreciate your being with us, though remotely!
Dutch tulips in kibbutz Merhavia, 2020 | Photo: JAFI
The bulbs will go to 32 kibbutzim and the coordinators will invite the olim families to plant tulips together
Boxes with tulip bulbs from Christians for Israel, 2021 | Photo: JAFIĀ
Some extra information
We have also made postcards to be given to all the olim who will plant tulips. They contain some information about C4I and our long-term friendship with them as well as the request to send us pictures when the tulips give sprouts.
The postcard for the olim families to go with the tulip bulbs | Photo: JAFI
Please support the āFirst Home in the Homelandā Project. Any amount is welcome!
Assisting a family in the āFirst Homeā program costs ā¬ 230 euro / US $ 250 a month.
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