Towards Chanukah we are finishing the renovation and preparation of House at the Gilboa on Kibbutz Merav. House at the Gilboa is a new and joint initiative to establish a branch of Beit Elisha at the religious Kibbutz Merav.  Elad Bloch and Avital Hacarmi from Merav are leading this project with the help of members from the kibbutz accompanied by Beit Elisha staff. During January we expect 5 women with special needs to be absorbed at House at the Gilboa. We see in this project the beginning of mutual work with partners from the religious sector and already recognize the special quality of this cooperation.

During autumn, two members of Beit Elisha, Baruch and Chen, moved to independent lodging at Harduf. This is the first step towards independent lodging within the framework of the Harduf community. We wish them the best of luck and an easy integration. We also want to mention the opening of a new theatre group. Eitan Kalmanovitch, member of Harduf, director, actor and drama teacher, is leading this group of 6 members from Beit Elisha. They study 62 hours per month and we hope to taste their first fruits in the inauguration ceremony of Kamah Center in May.

This year begun with major changes. The adolescents’ unit has grown to 29 teenagers in an attempt to test the possibility of integrating the 14 year-olds as part of the adolescents’ home. We have finalized the planning of a new adolescents’ home to be built at Tuvia. In this new home there will be room for 24 teenagers and 4 staff members. The plans were already submitted to the National Insurance Fund. The cost of the building will be approximately 3.5M Shekels and we are starting to raise funds for this project.

As part of our program to acquire vocational training and education for work we have established two new workshops at Tuvia: fabric & textile design and building with wood. The sewing activity is very successful. The wood building workshop is still in formation, searching for the best way to operate, hoping to provide the best framework for the children. In addition, three other workshops are active: food processing, vegetable garden and animal farm. The grown-up adolescents are already working in the cow-shed, at the stables and in the restaurant.

That's it for now.  We pray for a cold and wet winter with much light within our hearts.

Happy Chanukah, from all of us at Kamah.