During spring break, I and about ten other students from Pittsburgh are going on a volunteer service trip to The Children’s Village in Israel, sponsored by a Pittsburgh organization called Classrooms without Borders. The Children’s Village is located in Carmiel and is home to over twenty foster-family units with about 10-12 underprivileged children in each family, ranging in age from 3 to18. The children are taken out of poor or unfit homes, some abused or orphaned or without any means of getting an education. The children are counseled by social workers and placed in the Village by the Israeli government. They are welcomed by married foster parents who dedicate a solid 5-6 years of their lives to taking care of them. The foster parents do all they can to make the kids feel at home. They take them to school, eat meals with them, help them with homework, and make them feel like they are part of a loving household.

I interviewed the founder of Classrooms without Borders, Dr. Zipora Gur, and asked her about the upcoming trip to Israel in 2017. I was in awe of her dedication to the education of kids both in Israel and in the United States. Every year she takes a group of American students to the Village to help out – but not just to make the lives of few underprivileged kids In Israel brighter. The trip makes the lives of the American kids brighter too. Every one of them comes home with a new understanding of how fortunate they are, and also how much power they have to make a real difference in the world. Instead of just studying about these kids and sending a little money, they go there.

One of the questions I asked Dr. Gur was, “What first made you want to create this trip?” She answered by saying, “On my first trip to Carmiel, I saw this amazing, inspiring place. I saw kids who have nothing but are happy because they have a community. They are well taken care of. I was thinking about my students here (in Pittsburgh), and I thought that I could organize a really important study seminar — a trip that was centered on service. Many service trips for high school kids are not inspiring. I wanted to create a learning experience for Pittsburgh kids that took them out of their comfort zone—that gave them an experience that would change them, help them put their own lives in perspective. I thought this (trip) would be a very nice opportunity to broaden their perspective—and still be a lot of fun! I wanted to give my students an opportunity to live with people who speak a different language and yet are still to communicate.” Talking to Dr. Gur changed my attitude toward this trip. I understand now how much it is going to affect me and the other volunteers.  We won’t come back the same people. Many kids who’ve already gone on this trip say they want to go back. They say that the kids at the Village gave them much more than they gave the kids.   

On my trip to The Children’s Village, I hope to learn how to communicate with kids who don’t speak English, how to be taken out of my comfort zone and still be fine, and how to change lives for th e better. Most of all, I hope to make many new friends, to become part of a new “family,” and to keep in touch with them for many years to come.

Speaking for myself, I am very excited and honored to be apart of this incredible, unique program. I hope many students take an interest in community service and apply to this wonderful and life-changing opportunity.
http://classroomswithoutborders.org/