Finding Out What Israel is All About

By Wes Walker

I had a first time volunteer with me this year.  What a great companion he was.  On arrival at the airport, I made contact with several volunteers from previous programs.  Many of the volunteers were doing more than one three week program and choosing more than one base at which to work.  Our group was taken by bus to a base in the Tel Aviv area. 

After lunch and changing into our work uniforms, I was happy to see people I had worked with in the past.  Working with medical supplies that will be used at other bases, stored in warehouses and used by Israel’s army medical personnel in foreign countries disasters, was a big project with plenty of work to do.  Our base depends heavily on volunteers.

We had volunteers from Germany, Italy, Greece, Canada, USA and Israel.  All were speaking different languages.  In a couple of days we were bonding together at our work places, dinning hall and in our evening activities.  The Ulpan program was great!  Our teacher Mazal, with great zeal, carried us into the world of the Hebrew language.  

Our first weekend away from the base saw a lot of us in Tel Aviv, with some leaving the group.  One volunteer proudly showed us a flower covered toilet seat, bought in Tel Aviv, to go with her bathroom décor back home.  After a good laugh, we wondered how she was going to get that seat back to the states.

We started another week at our base with fewer volunteers, warmer weather and plenty of work.  I had fun with the soldiers in our shop [on the base] and laughed at the jokes they tried to tell us in English. I have always enjoyed the presence of the senior ladies helping with the work on the base.  One lady I have known for several years always brings baked goodies to be enjoyed by the volunteers. 

Evening activities were refreshing in spite of us being older and tired after a long days work.  We even had time to relax in the mo-a-dohn [recreational room] area of our campground.  This is when we were able to get acquainted with all the Sar-El volunteers at our base. Our Madrichot (Anna and Elisheva), always exuberant, encouraged us in our participation with the evening activities on Israeli culture.  

Our second week went well.  Our work shops were busy.  We lost two washing machines to much-needed repairs, so, back to hand washing clothes.  It’s a good thing my Mother and my wife had me well trained in this area.  Inspections came and went and you could always find us cleaning our rooms and the latrines in our spare time.  Early morning flag raising was a special time for all of us, especially for our first time volunteers.  Our Madrichot gave us the news each day, but, no football or basketball scores.  

Learning about Israel’s past history with a day trip to the Etzel Museum in Tel Aviv was very special.  The stories, brought to life by our Etzel Museum guide, gave me a better understanding of Israel’s War of Independence.    

I will return soon!  I already miss the friends I made and the work on the base.  One volunteer told us that people in other countries who do not support Israel should come to Israel and join a Sar-El program just to see what Israel and its people are all about.