Iriet Danon

My main volunteering placements during my time on the Fellowship, were assisting the English teacher in the local primary school, helping out in a local youth center and afterschool school, and working in MATI Impact, an NGO focussing on empowering social businesses and NGO's in the Haifa area succeed. The placements working with kids really helped me connect and engage with the community we lived in, and feel at home very quickly. The work in the NGO tought me a lot about the non-profit world, work ethic and fundraising. As "the pioneers of Kiryat Haim", we organized a successful Yahel community event, in which we brought the kids and parents from two parts of the city (that are divided by the train station) together in an "around the world event".

One of the highlights of my time was the exposure to the facts on the ground about Israeli society we received, through throughout meaningful encounters with so many different individuals, communities, and perspectives. I feel like I received a truly in-depth exploration into Israeli society. I left with a much firmer understanding of those perspectives, and the challenges faced by communities living in Israel, and that is something I value immensely.

Arguably however, what I would say I enjoyed the most, was spending time with and learning from all the other Fellows. To be able to build such an intimate community with diverse people from all over the world gave me the opportunity to learn so much about their perspectives, and this is something I hold in really high value to this day, and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have done so.