A Rainy and Fertile Winter it Was - 04/04/2019
Israel was blessed this year with a good amount of rain and precipitation- always a valuable commodity here in the Middle East. And Onward Israel was blessed with its largest ever winter cohort- 405 participants in 11 different programs, an increase of over 31% from 2018. Three of those programs- internship programs for North Americans and Latin Americans, and a professional development program for participants from the Former Soviet Union are still in progress. The geographical and topical diversity of the winter programs- involving participants from throughout the Southern Hemisphere as well as a scattering of North Americans and Europeans as well, and including programs such as our great partnership with Olami and jInternship combining internships with traditional Jewish content, preparation for volunteer military service in Israel, ecological farming, professional internships, coding and workshops in career building skills. In all cases, participants are building their resumes and benefiting from a direct and authentic living experience in Israel. It is worth noting in particular, one of our oldest and largest programs- the Hillel Latin America Internship program. This year, there are 102 participants, from Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and additional countries in Latin America. A group of them had a unique Israel experience- running in last week’s Tel Aviv marathon, including one participant who has now added Israel to a very impressive list of marathons completed around the world!