Or Shai, KhaledFahoum, DanielLahav, AminahNolte, RenanaGal, AhmadAyadi
For the last six months we live as volunteers in Nemash”im Commune.
(Nemash”im is the acronyms ofNoar Mesahek Shalom – meaning in English “youth play peace” and
in Arabic “shabab yaishu masrah”). Nemashim is a Jewish Arabic theatre commune
which is part of“FriendshipVillage”
that volunteers at the poor neighborhoods of Haifa.
The
commune is located on Hayarden
Street between two “problem” neighborhoods -Halisa
and Neve Yoseph. Halisa is composed of Arabs and a minority of Jewish population, and Neve Yoseph is populated mainly by Jews and
has a minority of Arabs. The project’s goal is to bring theatre to these
neighborhoods as an educational tool which will enable children and youngsters
to communicate and to express themselves in non violent manners. The theatre is
also used to create a dialog among the Jews and the Arabswho, despite living very closely,
hardly communicate.
In
this report we will give an account of the activities and projects we are
involved in.
Activities in the Community
Each
commune member was involved in several community projects. Most of the projects
were guiding theatre groups that are meant to empower the community and give
the neighborhoods’ residents a place to express their feelings, thoughts,
opinions and wishes.
Young
Children Theatre – The commune members put a lot of emphasis on educating
the younger generation to non violence values and to accepting others who are
different from them. Therefore, teaching theatre in kindergartens is a major
part of our work.
We
volunteer in four kindergartens: Amina and MichaelGeller
(a member of last year Nemashim commune who volunteers in the neighborhood
again this year in a different group) tutor guide in an Arab kindergarten in
Halisa and in an Ethiopian kindergarten at Ha-hashmal street
near Neve Yoseph. Or and Daniel work with3-6 years old children at the Neveh Yoseph Matnas (community center for
non formal education) where there is a mixedpopulation of Arabs, and Ethiopian, Russian, Israeli and American Jews.
Renana and Hila Lev (another former Nemashim member) also work in a mixed
Jewish Arabic Kindergarten at Ha-Yarden
Street.
The
theatre lessons are performed using games and different experiences and
activities which the children like very much. The reactions from both children
and kindergarten teachers are amazing.
Arabic
– Jewish Youth Theatre – Renana and Ahmad
guide a group of Jewish and Arabic youngsters at GanimCenter,
which is a Youth center at the Moshava ha-Germanit neighborhood. This
neighborhood, at the foot of the BahaiGardens, was built by German
immigrants who were deported from Israel by the British during World
War II. It is now populated by Arabs and Jews. The theater group has 11
members; 7 Arab boys and girls and 4 Jewish girls from the former Soviet Union. Ahmad
and Renana use mainly improvisation techniques to help their group members to
deal with subjects of the Israeli – Arab conflict and with adolescent issues.
Elementary
School Children Theater Group at Pe’er Community Center - Or and Hila Sharir (a Haifa University
student volunteer) work with a group that was formed by the municipal social
service at the neighborhood at Hayarden street near the commune. The 7-10 years
old children at this group come from the streets near by. They were gathered by
their social worker and all of them come from families treated by the Ministry
of Social Affairs. The activities take place at Pe’er Community Center, which
is an Arabic Jewish Community Center near our commune. The activities include
theater and games, and also tutoring and help with the children’s homework
assignments. All the children in this group are from the Ethiopian community.
This is the reason we help them with their homework since most of the parents
don’t speak Hebrew and can’t do it themselves.
Elementary
School Children Theater Group at Halisa– Khaled and DanielBarkai
(a National Service volunteer) work with this group. The children are 3rd
-4th graders and all of them are Arabs from Halisah. Establishing
this group is considered a great achievement both for us and for the
neighborhood. Last year the previous Nemashim group tried to form groups in
Halisa, but didn’t succeed. Famous actors and professional teachers who tried
to open theater groups in this neighborhood also failed.
Khaled
worked very hard to start the group. At the beginning of the year when we came
to visit the Hagiborim club (Halisa’s children and youth club) we were
violently driven away by the children. During the next two-three months Khaled
came to the club very frequently so the children and youngsters will accept him
and get used to his presence. In his attempts to form a theatre group Khaled got
no support from the club manager, and the children were reluctant to accept a
situation which includes some kinds of structured activities. They were
accustomed to running around all the rooms all the time. Khaled decided to
recruit children from outside the usual club population and dstributed flayers
at Halisa’s elementary school. About 20 children came to the theatre masks
workshop that Khaled and DanielBarkai organized. They came to
more meetings at the club and became a theatre group that meets regularly. In
the beginning they had their meetings at Hagiborim Club, but after it was burnt
down by angry youngsters, the group moved to an apartment owned by the
community and later on to the Halisa elementary school.
NeveYoseph Community
Center Singing Group – a group of young people meets every week to sing at
the community center. This ensemble represents NeveYosephCommunity Center,
performs in all the events that take place in it and also appears in other
places at different occasions. Daniel
works with this group regularly, gives voice training lessons and also helps
with the songs’ presentation on the stage.
Homework
Assistance Projects – Many children need help doing their homework, but in
neighborhoods such as Halisa and Neve Yoseph the parents have no time to do
that and no money to pay for “private lessons”. Parents from Ethiopia and former SovietRepublics
have an additional problem; they don’t understand Hebrew well enough so they
can’t help their children even if they have the time and are willing to do so.
Also the children whose mother tongue is not Hebrew needs extra help in doing
the homework. As a result of this situation there are many projects to aid
children in doing their homework in these neighborhoods. Renana volunteers in
one of these projects in the “Kishon” elementary school at Neve Yoseph. In this
project the pupils stay at school after school hours for extra 2 hours during
which they get help from volunteers. Each pupil is assigned to one volunteer
and the project’s aim is not only to help with the school assignments, but also
to form a personal – emotional connection between the pupil and the volunteer.
As
was mentioned before, the group guided by Or in Pe’er
Community Center, also gets help doing the home work assignments.
English
Via Theatre at “Kishon” School – Amina and DanielBarkai
give English lessons using theatrical techniques for 5th graders at
“Kishon” School in Neve Yoseph. These lessons are part of enrichment hours the
pupils get. The children love these English lessons, and besides learning
English they also get skills of self expression.
Future
Projects – The commune members are planning to enlarge their activities in
the community and open new groups. Or and Amina are about to start working with
a group of Ethiopian girls. They plan to create a program that will confront
via theatre activities subjects of growing up in the neighborhood as Ethiopian
girls. Renana and Ahmed made a
connection with the Arabic “work and learn” youth movement in Haifa, and plan to open a theatre group
there. Daniel and Or will open a
juggling group in MatnasPe’er. Juggling has an educational
value because it teaches the children not to give up; every time the ball (or
the stick) falls we have to pick it up and start again.
Theatre Activities
In
addition to being active in the community and guiding theatre groups, Nemashim
commune is also a theatre group by itself. We have theatre lessons twice a week
with our teachers – directors UriShani and Shadi Faher al Din, who
also guide our community work. The commune puts up three big productions and
also a variety of small shows initiated by us or according to suggestions we
receive.
Hadi and Tami
– a children’s play we worked on during our first 3 months at the commune. This
is an interpretation of Grimm brothers’ Hanzel and
Gretle (Hadi is from Arabic and Tami
is from Hebrew). The show was in Hebrew, Arabic and English, adapted in such a
way that it will be understood by both Hebrew and Arabic Speakers. The show has
been performed in Halisa, Neve Yoseph, kibbuts Daliah, at the children’s ward
in Rambam hospital, in kibbutz Maabarot, at Narkisim elementary school in Tivon
(to children from both Tivon and Bosmat Tivon), and at the democratic school in
Jaffa. The show was highly praised, and the children liked
it very much. We continue to perform it all over the country.
Women’s
Day – On Haifa’s
Women’s Day (December 20), the commune girls together with volunteers from Neve
Yoseph Community Center Hila Lev and DanielBarkai,
put on a social – political monologs show about Israeli women everyday life.
The subject of the show included problems of women in Israel and the world:
dissatisfaction with marriage, the tiresome tasks of home keeping and child
upbringing, pursuit of the desirable look and so on. After the show there was a
heated discussion with the audience about the position of women in society.
Mr.Zutah and the
Apple Tree- In the middle
ofNevehYoseph
there is a tiny nature reserve, a small “island” of trees and rocks. On TuBishvat
the Community Center decided to organize a happening for the elementary school
children at that spot. One of the stations in the happening was a show
presented by Or, Daniel and Renana.
They dramatized the story Mr.Zutah
and the Apple Tree by OritRaz. The story is about a dwarf
whose hard work transforms a decaying tree into a beautiful blooming one. The
play was performed 12 times during that day, and once more in the after school
club where Or and Daniel
volunteer.
Purim
Activities – Purim is a very theatrical holiday and we had many activities
associated with it. Or was a fortune teller in Pe’er Community Center, at NevehYosephCommunity Center we
helped organized the grown ups Purim party, and also performed in it. A few
days later we participated as clowns in a Purim happening for the neighborhood
children, and also put on a humorous “MegilatEsther”
show.
You,
I and the Next Production - During theatre lessons with Uri and Shadi we
started working on our next production which is expected to be performed on
April 11 at NevehYosephCommunity
Center. This show is based on gesture theatre;
instead of words we use gestures and sounds. The story is about a quarrel
between people from different cultures and it can be resolved. This is a show
for both grown ups and children.
Street
Theatre – Together with other theatre volunteers from the Community Center
we plan to create a group of street theatre that will produce street shows
dealing with social and political subjects. The idea behind it is to bring the
theatre and the issues we want to raise to the people who do not visit the
theatre halls or even the community centers.
Life at the Commune
We
are six people in one flat. Three of us are Jews, two Arabs and one German. We
are three boys and three girls. Living together helps us learn about each other
and about the different cultures we come from. The last half year taught us
thing about each other and about ourselves.
To
be honest, things do not always go smooth and easy, especially when we take into
account the fact that as theatre people we sometimes tend to be overdramatic.
We have gone through several crises and had some big fights. We managed to
overcome these difficulties, and with the help of our social guide Inas, we now know more about each other and became a
stronger group.
Being
a multilingual community makes our work a little slow, but it is also a great
learning opportunity for us. Ahmad
teaches Renana spoken Arabic, Khaled teaches Or
political Arabic, and Or teaches Amina Hebrew via songs.
Since
our project is not completely funded we have to work so we can pay for water,
food and electricity. Ahmad washes
dishes at a restaurant, Or works for Greenpeace
organization, Renana cleans houses, Daniel
reads stories to children, Amina translates for Reut Saddakah Association and Khaled is funded by his parents. We hope to get more
funding for the commune, because the long working hours are taken from our
community work.
liked
it very much. We continue to perform it all over the country. 