Update from Petah Tikva

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Written by: Leoni Groot

I start to get more and more familiar with the kids in the youth center. It’s so great to see them being happy with other volunteers, professionals, each other and me. It really creates a warm atmosphere.

This became especially clear during Purim, the crazy holiday where people are happy and dressed in costume. There was a girl that wore typical Ethiopian clothes: a white dress with colors. She won the costume competition. I was dressed as a zebra (see picture)

Another volunteer, called Moran, organized the Purim party. She made such a great job! There were many games kids from the youth center as well as kids from the neighborhood that I had never seen before. They played games that were guided by some youths of this outreach center. I was amazed by how they took responsibility over these games.

There was enough food for anyone. If one didn’t feel like playing games anymore, he or she could dance to the music that was played by a DJ. At the end of the evening we did the Harlem shake!

All the photo’s of this wonderful day can bee seen at the Facebook webpage of this youth center in Petah Tikva: http://www.facebook.com/ammevet.fidel/photos_stream. It might be nice for everyone who is interested in this youth center to check out this Facebook page once in a while to see what’s going on here!

As you can see in the photo album of that Facebook page as well is that a man, who is a comedian, visited this center. Unfortunately I am really bad in remembering names, especially if they sound unfamiliar to me. But what is more important: I saw how the kids were really interested in this man. They asked him many questions and he answered them in a funny way (as I understood from one girl and as I saw the reactions of the youth). As a non-Hebrew speaker for me it was less funny, of course. Yet I was having fun by seeing the youth having fun, which is, I think, as much as important! 
Location: Petah Tikva, Israël

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