our second day of volunteering (12.27)

This day started out the same way as the day before. We went over to the apartment complex in the center of Karmiel to finish up our painting. We really just had some touching up to do. It was also a beautiful afternoon (like 70 degrees!) so we were able to enjoy the sunshine as well. We were very lucky to have a group of residents come over and enjoy lunch with us!

After finishing up with painting, we headed over to a local park in Karmiel to discuss our visit thus far. We sat by a beautiful waterfall and enjoyed everyone's company in lovely Karmiel.

Shir, Justin, Rachel, Evan and Hara on the grass in the beautiful park in Karmiel.

Everyone. 

After a great little break in the park we traveled to the Karmiel Children's Village. This was so exciting for all of us because we had a special mission to complete. As blogged about before we left, 8 suitcases were filled to the brim with children's clothing and toys compliments of the Hebrew school at Rodef Shalom. A few of us stopped by to pick them up before we left for Israel. They were dispersed between us and brought so we would be able to personally give them to the children at the children's village here in Karmiel. We felt quite honored being able to personally deliver these special things to these children.

When we first arrived, we were given a tour of the village's very own pettting zoo and layout of the place. We then broke up into groups and were able to take a tour of the Mishpachtonim where these very special families live. The concept is that there are families (some still have young kids while others are just couples) who live in these houses with 12 children who are not their own. These children are still in contact with their biological families but are not able to live with them full time for various reasons. The "father" normally has a full time job while the "mother's" full time job is to take care of these children and provide them with a loving, caring and stable family unit. 

The outside of one of the Mishpachtonim.

You must have many sinks with 12 kids...

The kid's little buckets in the bathroom.

The second hand shop where the suitcases were unloaded.
You can see one of them on the left.

There's another one of the bags we brought!

Being there was quite an experience and it was an honor bringing those suitcases from Pittsburgh to Karmiel. The village was such an amazing place to visit and our J'Burgh trip participants can't wait to become more involved in it when we return back home. Possibilities are really endless. 

After leaving there, we had a free evening with our host families to enjoy the area for dinner and just hang out and get to know each other even better. One of the most exciting parts of this trip is definitely the AMAZING host families we are staying with. They have been beyond welcoming and we all feel we are walking away from this experience with an extended family here in Karmiel.