Coming to a Close: A Challenge

By Maya Katz-Ali 
ENP Volunteer Summer 2014, via Onward Boston Israel
Student at Clark University

Everyday I feel like I get closer to the students in the center. There are many moments that my volunteer experience distracts me from  the current political situation here in Israel. It reminds me that while our country is undergoing great difficulty, life continues on, river-like, so many twists and turns but always moving on.

I have recently added a question of racism to the mix of my interviews. I assure them that they don’t have to answer if it’s not comfortable, and that I won’t put it in the book but that it’s just to raise awareness that this is still sometimes a struggle in Israel. It is a reality that many of them have experienced; it is a part of their story but I think they can grow strong from it. I ask a question of what they want to be when they are older after that question, because I want them to dream and think about how they want to get there.

Though I wish I could interview every student, unfortunately there is not enough time for that. Now I am starting to wrap up my project and take the pictures that I need to make into the book that I will be making for the students to keep at the center. Then I will be choosing a couple lines from the interview which I feel has taught me about each student. As the end becomes more and more apparent I’m already dreading leaving. As so many of the kids say, the center is really like a second home to them. For me it has also become a place of such familiarity and growth. 

Now the challenge is the time-crunch to put together this book that I am working on(decorating and collecting all the photos), type up all the interviews and then translate them. These next couple of days will be the real challenge, of putting everything together and feeling some sort of conclusion. I can't wait to see how this all turns out! I only hope that this will mean as much to them and people that read it and their stories, as it does to me.