August 4th , 2008
I am fortunate to be on vacation from most of my teaching responsibilities but there are letters to answer and books to order and the village is busy with preparations for the new school year. The dormitories , school and classrooms are repainted every summer, new staff are joining us , the school and residential program accept new students throughout July and August. A new group of returning students has returned for its two week work assignments - there are cows to be milked, eggs to be collected, fields to be worked and the grape harvest is near by. I ask some of the kids how their vacation has been so far. " Great ," they reply, " but it's good to be back here , out of the city."
New parents and their skeptical teenagers arrive , sometimes on foot , hiking up " Mount Shfeyah " in the summer heat, to register and meet with the village social workers and administrators . Once again the process begins and strangers become part of the Shfeyah family. Once again , a leap of faith as parents and their children hope for a new start in a new place. Most of them are not disappointed.
This summer we have hosted a Soccer Camp , a music retreat and visitors from France in our village. The evenings are full of the sounds of whistles and shouts from the soccer field and music from the dormitories. The dining room is bustling with athletes, musicians, staff and students returning from work in the fields , cows and chicken coops.
As we enjoy the last month of the summer, the long hot days, the pool and the silent afternoons when the village rests, we pray that all of our students are safe and happy, that they return healthy and rested from the summer break and that the New Year will be full of challenges , successes and hopefully,more peaceful times.
I am fortunate to be on vacation from most of my teaching responsibilities but there are letters to answer and books to order and the village is busy with preparations for the new school year. The dormitories , school and classrooms are repainted every summer, new staff are joining us , the school and residential program accept new students throughout July and August. A new group of returning students has returned for its two week work assignments - there are cows to be milked, eggs to be collected, fields to be worked and the grape harvest is near by. I ask some of the kids how their vacation has been so far. " Great ," they reply, " but it's good to be back here , out of the city."
New parents and their skeptical teenagers arrive , sometimes on foot , hiking up " Mount Shfeyah " in the summer heat, to register and meet with the village social workers and administrators . Once again the process begins and strangers become part of the Shfeyah family. Once again , a leap of faith as parents and their children hope for a new start in a new place. Most of them are not disappointed.
This summer we have hosted a Soccer Camp , a music retreat and visitors from France in our village. The evenings are full of the sounds of whistles and shouts from the soccer field and music from the dormitories. The dining room is bustling with athletes, musicians, staff and students returning from work in the fields , cows and chicken coops.
As we enjoy the last month of the summer, the long hot days, the pool and the silent afternoons when the village rests, we pray that all of our students are safe and happy, that they return healthy and rested from the summer break and that the New Year will be full of challenges , successes and hopefully,more peaceful times.
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