By Miriam (Mickey)Blumberg, UIA Representative in Israel

Arava Delegation to Australia

On May 10th, 2002, a delegation of six residents from the Arava, lead by Lilach Morgan, the recently elected Head of the Mercaz Sapir Regional Council and David Bernstein, Director of Overseas Relations, Israel Department of the Jewish Agency, visited Melbourne and Sydney.

The delegation met with leaders of the United Israel Appeal (UIA) in both cities and also with many other Jewish and Zionist Organisations. The representative of the Arava gave a detailed explanation of the work that was done over the seven years of Partnership 2000 involvement with Australia and encouraged further visits to the region.

As a result of this visit, a tele-conference between Australia and the Arava was held in the Arava in June, 2002. The conference was conducted by Max Shnider of Melbourne who was visiting Israel at the time. Mr. Shnider had previously arranged for the Australian participants to be prepared to discuss the following issues:

Leadership, Joint Website/chat lines,Trade and Commerce (which would include Tourism) Youth, Community Services and Development, Education, and Business Incubator Projects.

The Arava participants were allocated a subject and they related to the person in Australia who would deal with the issues of that category.

It was decided that each sub-committee would have regular tele-conferences in order to advance the decisions taken.

Solidarity Mission

In June, 40 people from various cities in Australia came to Israel on a Solidarity Mission and they spent an overnight visit in the Arava at one of the Bed/Breakfast Villages. They were shown projects on the evening of their arrival, enjoyed a festive dinner at the village, where they were introduced to many new Olim who had settled in the Arava over the past year or two.

In the morning, the group visited other projects and a sculpture park in which all the sculptures and art work were done by residents of the Arava.

The visitors were most impressed with the progress and changes that have taken place in this region and promised to continue their support.

High School Exchange Programme

For several years now, there has been an exchange programme between high school pupils from the Arava and the Bialik Jewish Day School in Melbourne. The pupils from the Arava have just returned from the two week visit to Melbourne and Sydney where they were hosted by the Australian families.

The Bialik pupils come every year and they study together with the pupils from the Shita High School in the Arava. This is a very successful and important bridge building project and much effort goes into the preparation of both visits.

Habonim Madrichim Visit the Arava

Senior Habonim madrichim visited the Arava during July for three days and most of their events took place during the night to avoid the heat of the day. The visit was very successful and the hosting families discovered that over ten of the madrichim had been before and it was like coming back to the family of Partnership 2000. Members of the Moshav Youth Movement participated in the activities.

Tourism

There are eight families on the various Moshavim who have developed Bed/Breakfast facilities and more and more Israeli visitors are booking in for three or four nights. The rooms are well booked up in advance and they provide wonderful facilities for families. There is much to do to keep visitors happy including, jeep rides into the desert, a donkey farm for the children, jacuzis and many other desert attractions.

Project Renewal - Newe Golan and Shikun Hamizrach

On June 16th, the Solidarity Mission in the presence of the Tel-Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai and other celebrities, attended a double dedication ceremony in Newe Golan (Tel-Aviv -Jaffa). The Tel-Aviv Foundation honoured the Jewish Community of Australia by dedicating a square in the neighbourhood of Newe Golan. The plaque was unveiled by Yetta Hendler, the wife of Archie Hendler who is the Project Renewal Chairman for Australia.

A choir from one of the elementary schools performed.

After the ceremony, the audience went upstairs to the newly constructed additional floor of the Newe Golan Community Centre, which was funded jointly by the UIA (United Israel Appeal of Australia) and the Tel-Aviv Foundation, to dedicate this wonderful addition to the original Community Centre, which had outgrown its space.

The catering for the reception was done by the volunteers of the Women's Club and was extremely professional

Mr./Mrs. Archie Hendler of Sydney Australia, visited the Prat Community Centre in Shikun Hamizrach, which is a Project Renewal neighbourhood of Rishon L'Zion. Mr. Hendler presented the Director, Mr. Maimon Asulin with three certificates for 100 trees to be planted in a JNF Forest in the Carmel Range, in memory of eight members of the Nechmad family who were killed in a terrorist attack in Jerusalem, several months ago. The certificates will be handed to the surviving members of the family.

Many of the Nechmad family were residents of the neighborhood and the children used the facilities of the Community Centre. The family requested that there be an official tree planting ceremony in November and the JNF have agreed to arrange it for them.