A Day of Volunteering in Ashkelon

Blog #7

July 23,  2013

Written by: Samantha Max

This morning we woke up refreshed after a great nights sleep at our new homes away from home in Ashkelon. We started our morning at Park Baltimore, a playground that citizens from both Baltimore and Ashkelon helped build in 2007, including a few members of  Diller (Sophie Sibel, Samantha Max and Maddie Terrill).

After playing a game and exploring the Park, we loaded the bus and travelled to the fire department. A firefighter named Tal told us about his job and even let us take pictures in the fire truck! Next we walked next door to Magen David Adom, which is essentially the Israeli version of the Red Cross. Someone told us abut her role at MDA and then three Diller Fellows from Ashkelon told us about their experiences volunteering, today's theme of the day.

We drove to the Youth Counsel building, where we did more activities related to volunteering. Also, we were surprised to see the building filled with artwork made by past Dillers.

We then had a delicious lunch before driving to Gvanim, a center that works with mentally disabled patients and helps them in creative ways, such as artwork. We made some artwork to be featured in the center's gift shop and then went to the Ashkelon Academic College. While there, we split into groups and discussed a story about being a host and being a guest. 

 Next, we walked to a nearby stadium and painted a beautiful mural to represent the Baltimore-Ashkelon Partnership. It was amazing to see a plain concrete wall transform so drastically in only 2 hours. Meanwhile, as half of the group was hard at work painting, the other half of the group was hard at work painting, the other half received half of shekel and was challenged to get as many things as possible in a nearby shopping center for the tiny amount of money. My group ended gathering an entire shopping bag of random items from restaurants and stores for free and donated our half shekel to tzedaka.

Last, we walked to the Volunteer Center, where we snacked and played another game before heading to dinner with our host families. It is hard to believe that so much happened today. Getting to travel throughout Ashkelon all day has been amazing. The buildings and food are different, but even after only been here for a day, I already feel at home. Being with all the Ashkelon teens agin has been absolutely amazing. I feels as if no time has passed since we waved goodbye to the bus in Baltimore in March.