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joshkadosh
Starting Member
3 Posts |
 Posted - 07/31/2006 : 02:48:25
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My name is Josh, I am 20 years old, and I work in Haifa. I am in the army, and was a combat infantry fighter, but I took a year out to do community service, and now as part of my service to the country I am running a temporary home for homeless kids and youth-at-risk in one of the poorer neighbourhoods of Haifa. Kids come and go, at the moment we have around fifteen. Since the war started, we've moved into a bigger building with built-in bomb shelters, but we have to sleep on the floor and we don't shower.
The kids are scared, like everyone else, like me. The girls have stopped crying after three weeks of running for shelter and hearing the explosions outside, but they keep it all pent-up inside now like the boys, and it comes out in all sorts of situations. The boys, even the Arab ones, have become very right-wing, very violent. They all swear at Nasrallah when they see him on TV, and I don't feel like stopping them. Everyone knows someone who's been hurt, or who's house has been damaged. Everyone has a story about how close they were to a Katyusha strike, how narrowly they missed it. They tell their stories with pride, but they're scared.
Two rockets have hit very near here, one a couple hundred metres up the street, and one hit a house on the beach also very close by. If the work I'm doing wasn't so essential (we still have kids, run-aways and kids kicked out of their homes coming in all the time), I'd have gone down south too, like everyone else who can afford to.
We have to decide how to respond to the fear the war is creating inside the children. I believe it can be channeled into good things. I want to start a project where Israeli children from the north of the country correspond with Lebanese children their age, and can talk about shared fears, experiences, hopes. Can anyone Lebanese help me out and get me in touch with someone who works with children in Beirut or anywhere else in Lebanon? It could be via internet, or sending each other real letters and parcels. Much appreciated, Josh
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le lezard
Moderator
Lebanon
20 Posts |
 Posted - 08/02/2006 : 22:46:53
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Hi Josh.
Great idea. I'm Lebanese, I'd love to help. We are looking for a similar action with Dimi. I think now is not the time, but once this war is over (if it ever ends and if we're still alive  ) we could start something that will hopefully last and lead to a true dialogue between our people.
The legal aspect is a little tricky, because every Lebanese in touch with an Israeli is facing imprisonment for high treason and conspiracy with the enemy. Even me writing on this forum is illegal. So we have to sort out this issue first.
We'll probably need to be sponsored by an NGO, so start looking for an honest one!
Good luck with the kids, I hope you'll stay safe, and please tell them the Lebanese people are sorry for what they're going through. |
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Involve Kids
