This year instead of going to the beach and partying for spring break, I went on the Jewish National Fund's Alternative Spring Break with my fellow Hokies from Hillel! I raised money over winter break by asking my family, teachers, and friends to donate to the JNF on my behalf instead of giving me Chanukah presents or birthday presents. Other people on the trip sold raffle tickets, and one student raised all his money doing challah bake sales for his temple!
I wanted to go on this trip because Taglit Birthright Israel made a huge impact on me and I love Israel, but I felt like such a tourist. I wanted to see to see how less fortunate citizens of Israel lived, and I wanted to give back to the land I love. Our first day on the trip we got off the plane at Ben Gurion and drove to Yerucham near Be'er Sheba in the Negev. This was not going to be a touristy trip, we were staying in a youth hostel in a residential town with nothing to do. We spent our first full day painting government housing projects to make them look better. It was hard work chipping away at all the flaking paint and painting all the hard to reach areas like the ceiling. As residents began to come home from their days work, they saw how nice their building looked, and they cheered us on, and in some cases they helped or brought us food. It was great to see the joy on their faces. These people don't have much, and just seeing that someone cares about them made a big impact on their day.
Each day we worked on a different project, and saw where other JNF groups had been before us. We saw other JNF projects, like the indoor playground in Sderot where children can play without fear of a rocket attack. We saw the water project in Be'er Sheva. We worked at an Ethiopian absorption center, on an olive tree farm in the Negev, on river terraces near Jerusalem, at Yad Sarah (the largest medical supplier in Israel), and on forest fire prevention in the Carmel region near Haifa. We met many project coordinators; Israelis who were working hard every day to make their country a better place. There was one project we visited that was an after school program for elementary schoolers in composting. They made their own compost facility, and the local neighborhoods all used this compost center that the children made and maintained! We also had many deep discussions about the value of service work for the participant and for the community involved. I grew very close to my bus members, and I will take this experience with me much further than a week of tanning in Miami. Thank you Hillel, and thank you JNF for an amazing Spring Break!
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