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57 high-school students from South Africa have been on an educational trip to Israel for several weeks. The youngsters, 9th graders from Jewish communities in Capetown, Johannesburg and Durban, arrived in Israel at the end of April through the Jewish Agency's Department for Jewish-Zionist Education. This group is twice the size of the group which came for the same period last year. The security situation in Israel did not deter the parents or the youngsters who eagerly awaited their trip to Israel. Throughout the year the Education Department works to bring groups of Jewish youngsters to Israel for educational purposes. The Jewish community in South Africa is a wonderful example in this area, and has been sending its youth to the South African Ulpan Program in Israel for the last 30 years. Between two and three such groups are sent to Israel each year. They stay in Israel for about 10 weeks, touring the entire country, visiting different communities, meeting with Israelis and enjoying a variety of educational activities. Tami Yaaroni, who coordinates the South African Ulpan, explains how this trend has persisted in South Africa for so many years: "It's become a real tradition. In some families the parents also made a similar trip and now they are sending their children. The tradition is so well entrenched in schools that it is almost considered mandatory". For most of the youngsters this is their first visit to Israel. Many have relatives and friends in Israel, and their reunions are usually emotional, although it also makes it easier for the youngsters to acclimatize. The tension which has been felt in Israel in recent months due to the security situation requires that Yaaroni and the group counselors must be particularly cautious, especially when touring public sites and when the youngsters travel to their relatives at the weekend. Nevertheless, it was decided that the youngsters would be able to spend most of their weekends with family in order to get to know the "real" Israel better. Yaaroni relates that despite the terror attacks in Israel over the last two months, the youngsters did not display any signs of fear or anxiety, and that as soon as the necessary security precautions are adopted, the visit becomes smooth and enjoyable. During the last week of their visit, the youngsters will put on a special play summarizing their stay, and are also producing a special magazine, in which some of them will write about their impressions of the visit. The magazine will be distributed among the schools in their communities, and will also help their friends back home to also gain a feeling of their visit - so that they too will want to come to Israel. |
