Second Day of Work

My second day of work is not accurately described by this picture, but I work in a women’s shelter, so I’m not allowed to take photographs there. 

This picture shows just how dedicated I am to this volunteer placement, however, because it illustrates my misery during our 30 minute wait at the bus stop this morning. The entire block reeked of fish, bleach, and rotting garbage. My five fellow volunteers and I really thought we might asphyxiate, but our commitment to the Yachdav Women’s Shelter inspired us to wait it out… and we finally caught our bus. 

We had our first full day of volunteering today. I met with the shelter director to talk about the research I will be doing with Ariel, which will be a meta analysis of best practices in women’s shelters around the world. We will also be examining how women of different cultural backgrounds construct narratives of abuse. Then we will assist with creating promotional materials and fundraising plans so that the shelter can expand and help new women. The plans include creating a special space for Bedouin women seeking temporary shelter, apartments for women with adolescent children, and apartments for women who need to stay at the shelter for extended periods of time, over the typical 6-8 months. The expansion will cost about 3 million USD and we still need to raise approximately 1 million USD. 

Game on.

After the meeting and a lunch break, we began interacting with some women and children. 

I have been charged with the task of entertaining and mentoring two Arab tweens at the shelter, a boy and a girl. Today we spent the better part of an hour sitting on the playground, pointing at different objects and body parts, and trying to say their names in Hebrew, Arabic, and English. The children insisted that I attempt the Arabic accent when I used Arabic. I learned how to say ground, sky, tree, eyes, ears, mouth, shoes, sandals, helicopter, how are you (after much hand shaking and confusion), very good, and hello. 

This was the source of much delight for my tween friends. Every time I butchered a word, rolled my r’s for too long, nearly choked on a guttural “ch” sound, or just got completely and utterly confused, they would burst into unrestrained laughter, and so would I! I made a fool of myself, and then it was their turn to try English. The “th” sound was a challenge and “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” became an instant hit.

Just yesterday when we visited, the young girl I’m working with would watch us from different hiding places and run off when we tried to say hello to her. Today, we were rolling on the floor laughing together. It is amazing to see what can change in a day!