Dan L. checks in from Ramle, Israel where he’s serving with UMass-Amherst Hillel and JDC Short-Term Service.

Only success like that achieved today could have eclipsed the satisfaction felt by the whole group after a hard day’s painting, followed by the toasting of gelatin-free marshmallows at night.  If yesterday was successful, today’s activities truly began to shed light on the true nature of our mission, and our ability to create change here in Ramla.

My day began with the planting of coffee and lemon trees along with various other smaller plants outside the Taveja center-our home base in the city- with my comrade Daniel Dovev, while the others did the same close by while engaging in a short-lived singing of Disney Princess songs (with an unfortunate emphasis on the Little Mermaid).  At the end of 3 hour’s work our group of 16 volunteers had cleared immense amounts of trash from the property around the apartment building painted the previous day.  In its place we planted somewhere around 40 trees and bushes.  The result was dramatic! In addition to the satisfaction earned as the result of a job well done we could gaze upon the newly beautified plot of land with pride.

Lunch: chicken, hummus, olives, hummus.  Delicious.

Next came a sort of romp:  Our team split off into two groups, one going to play dodge ball with a group of young teenaged students while the other went to participate in an after-school theater class comprised primarily of 8-year olds.  Here, the significance of the language barrier all but evaporated, as the main form of communication manifested itself in universal facial expressions and hand motions: Mainly smiles and waving.  There were also translators.  Even the student’s 10 minutes rendition of Cinderella recited entirely in Hebrew was easy to follow as the result of the kid’s impressive commitment to expressive movement.

The end of the day featured probably one of the most important experiences I’ve had in Israel to date.  The team walked through the thunder and rain to the mediation center in Ramla where we met a group of Arab and Jewish Israelis to learn first hand how they have been working together to address the social and cultural issues facing the city.

Coming to Israel as a foreigner, it was refreshing to see a group of people composed of two factions notorious for intolerance toward one another, coming together to achieve a common goal through discussion of important issues. Assuming that Ramle is a pioneer in such intercultural cooperation as seen in mediation programs like this, it is ironic to think that a city with such a “stigma” attached to it –according to Jasmine, the 19 year old Arab mediation committee member- should very well be serving as an example for the rest of Israel.

I think the group has a reasonable sense of accomplishment so far, as well as a more holistic understanding as to the context of our service here.  We have a greater comprehension of the challenges facing Ramla today and how we are able to help.  Most importantly, however, I think we have a grip on what more there is to learn about the community.

Check out some pictures from our time here so far below.