Volunteering: Week One

This week was the first week of actual volunteering for our group.

On Monday, I worked at the Senior Center with Sarah. When we got there, they were having a birthday party for all the seniors whose birthdays are in July. They served cake, and all of their kids and grandchildren came, and there were small fireworks, and there was dancing. It was cute. After the party, we cleaned up the mess and set up for lunch. On a normal day at the Senior Center, basically what we do is serve food for lunch, clear the dishes afterward, and then set up the dishes for breakfast the next morning. And of course, interact with the old people so they don't feel lonely... which can be difficult because not many of them speak English. It's pretty fun though. And after we're done, they feed us, too.

On Tuesday, I worked at the local Soup Kitchen with Eddie. "Soup Kitchen" is really a misnomer, because they serve fully balanced meals for only 2 shekels (which is about 50¢). It's not anything like the soup kitchens you see in the movies and on TV. There are about four people who work there, and for the most part, there are pretty nice. They hardly speak English at all, though, except for one girl who is about our age. They also feed us when we're done.

On Wednesday, I went to the Arab Kadima with Sarah, and on Thursday (today), I was there again, this time with Karyn and Misha. The Kadima is a center for disadvantaged youth. (Kadima means forward in Hebrew.) The kids range in age from 11 - 16, and they all come from families that have problems in some ways, be it drugs, abuse, single parents, or something else. There are two Kadima centers in Ramla: one for Arabs and one for Jews. Both centers serve the same purpose, because, obviously, children are children, no matter their race, religion, etc, etc. They need somewhere to go during the day, and they need our help. The Kadima programs end for the summer next week, so they are wrapping up their activities. At the Arab Kadima, the kids are working on a show for an end-of-session celebration on August 2nd. They have skits and dances and stuff like that. It's really cute. You can listen to a song for one of the dances the girls are doing here. It's kind of my new favorite song. Oh, and today for lunch, they ordered Dominos Pizza as a surprise for the kids, which was awesome! Yes, they have Dominos here. And it's exactly the same as at home! It was weird though: there was tuna and corn on it. I don't normally like extraneous stuff on my pizza, but it was still good.

Volunteering so far is really fun. I'm really looking forward to checking out the other volunteering places next week.