"Its for me, for you, to fulfill a dream to create a real common language, through art," Miri Ibler, Director of Yad Harif, beams excitedly about her after-school program. "Here we bring together the wide ethnic spectrum of students: Kurds, Poles, Yemenites, Moroccans; religious and secular, to interact through the wonderful medium of art." Yad Harif is an arts center on Kibbutz Tzora, just outside of Beit Shemesh. Children of all ages can come to this center for classes in visual arts, dance and music. The center is open for everyone; students do not need to audition before entering a class. However, they are provided with the best, most qualified teachers right from the onset.

One of the biggest challenges for Miri and her co-workers at Yad Harif was to bring in children from the surrounding areas--children that want to learn, but cannot afford to do so. Thanks to a scholarship fund provided by Partnership 2000, this is now a reality. Washington DC and South Africa's support through Partnership 2000, paved the way to enable more students to join and the opportunity to bring dedicated students from the surrounding and culturally varied areas to attend Yad Harif. This past December marks the first full year that children have been receiving this grant. The scholarship is allocated based on need determined by a committee with representation of the local welfare department to ensure that only the most needy families are recipients. A similar Partnership 2000 program exists for the community center in Beit Shemesh.

Upon first entering the spacious building you can feel art vibrating through the air. Immediately at the entrance stand sculptures created by the students. The sound of students tuning their instruments and pounding on drums radiates from the upstairs. Here they can take a class in everything from Orchestra to traditional ethnic ouds, as well as a lesson in music appreciation.

Further down, at the end of the hallway are the visual arts classrooms, where students collaborate on larger-than-life size paper-mache animals in one classroom, and hand building objects with clay in another. Both of the visual art teachers were educated at the prestigious Betzalel Academy in Jerusalem.

Downstairs, music pumps through the walls, as students begin their dance classes. One-third of one ballet class in particular, Miri points out with pride, is composed of children receiving Partnership 2000 scholarships. Other dance classes that are offered include Jazz, Modern Dance, and Salsa.

Twelve-year old Rivka, is a resident of a moshav in Matteh Yehuda, who eagerly attends dance classes at Yad Harif. Her parents immigrated to Israel in the early 60's. Until last year, Rivka had always wanted to take dance lessons, and learn how to perform and spin like she has seen in movies, but her family did not have enough money for her to attend dance lessons.

This all changed last December, with the Partnership 2000 grant given to Yad Harif. Since then she has had the privilege of attending classes, twice a week at Yad Harif, with kids her age from all over the community. Now she anxiously awaits the days that she goes to Yad Harif. After classes, she comes home and practices her new routines for her family, who feel blessed to have this opportunity to send a child to an afternoon enrichment class.

Students like Rivka, are the drive behind the Partnership 2000 grant, to enable young children with a passion for the arts, but cannot afford to take classes, the opportunity to attend classes, and the transportation to and from the center. For Miri, seeing their smiling faces every day, excitedly pilling off the vans and into the dance classrooms, pulling out their instruments, or changing into a smock and getting ready to paint, waving hello to her in the hallways, are constant reminders of the success of this joint project.

Yad Harif is a wonderful institution, offering a wide variety of artistic outlets to the diverse community that it reaches out to, and a dedicated and caring staff, all of whom are very grateful for the generosity of Partnership 2000.

Tammuz 5762 - June 2002