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The programs include:
· Missions and visits of groups, families and individuals from the Lehigh valley community to Yo'av. Since the partnership was formed hundreds of members of the Lehigh valley community have visited the Yo'av region.
· Young leaders from Yo'av to Lehigh Valley. Since 2003, every summer young people from Yoav, together with an adult escort, have been sent to act as counselors at the Jewish summer camp in Lehigh Valley. This is a successful program which contributes both to the children of Lehigh Valley and to the young counselors.
· Children Paint Peace. In 2003 a painting competition took place at summer camps in Yoav and Lehigh Valley called "Children Paint Peace". 6 paintings from Yo'av and 6 paintings from Lehigh Valley, which placed first, were printed onto posters. To this day they adorn the walls of public and education institutions in Yo'av and Lehigh Valley. Greetings cards, with the winning paintings, were also printed.
· Lecturers and artists from Yo'av to Lehigh Valley
· Voluntours. As part of the program in summer 2004 volunteers came to Israel from Lehigh Valley. They spent 16 days in the region. The group volunteered to perform various jobs in the mornings, in the afternoons they took trips around the region and they were invited to the homes of local residents. The group was also taken to Jerusalem and Masada on organized trips. The program enhanced the relationship between the two communities. The guests got to know a lot of local residents in the region, who opened their home to them.
· Summer camp at Yo'av. Assistance from the Lehigh Valley Jewish community made it possible to run a summer camp for children from Yo'av for several years, and during the hard times endured by Israel. Each year around 300 children, aged 6-12, have attended the camp and enjoyed a wide range of activities.
· Young leadership. 50 youths from grades 8 and 9, from all the region’s communities, participated in this program which included seminars on leadership, responsibility, initiative, activating the children and community involvement. The seminars contributed greatly to the youth and to the community.
· Cultures builds community: study, in-depth investigation, enrichment and colleagues’ work on topics relating to culture, creating partnerships on cultural topics between the communities and joint activity for all the communities. The colleagues/coordinators received professional guidance, and subsequently worked in the field.
· Conveying a bridging language to youth. An educational project designed to generate an approach to life of creating authority and settling conflicts by peaceful means, by imparting the bridging model as a tool and as a philosophy. Around 30 counselors, from areas of informal education, were trained at special workshops and they now work with children and youth.
· Women’s forum. There are forums of women from the Yo'av Regional Authority and from the Lehigh Valley Jewish Federation. The forums are designed to empower women; to plan, organize and implement unique projects for women with the hope that this will lead to mutual enrichment.
· Healthy lifestyle
New projects to be implemented in the near future:
· An emissary is to be sent from Yo'av to Lehigh Valley for a year.
· Developing an educational reserve for Yo'av
· Jewish renewal: barmitzvah, batmitzvah
music center
study programs for Yo'av residents
As a result of the good relations that developed through Partnership 2000, Lehigh Valley made further donations to the Yo'av region, in addition o those made through Partnership 2000, such as: renovating shelters at Kibbutz Sdeh Yoav and Kibbutz Negba during the Second Lebanon War, help with acquiring a security room for Moshav Segula etc.
More information about Partnership 2000 Yo'av and Lehigh Valley can be obtained from the Yo'av region, from the "People to People" coordinator, Ossy Halachmy Nir - 052-4788661
p2kyoav@gmail.com
at the Lehigh Valley Jewish Federation offices and at: www.jewishlehighvalley.org
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