Mitzvah Day has become an international event with communities in Israel, American, Poland, Argentina, Zimbabwe and Germany. Mosaic took part in Mitzvah day in November 2013. One group wrapped 50 boxes and filled them with toys and gifts which were taken to the Barnardo Freeman Family Centre in Harlesden where they were distributed to families using the Centre for their Christmas party.\u00a0Another group of adults and children wrapped up warmly and went to Stanmore Common. Under the direction of Stephen Bolsover from Harrow Nature Conservation they harvested heather and then sowed it\u00a0in areas where new heather was needed.\u00a0The third group of children and adults went to The Haven Residential Home where they entertained the residents.<\/p>\n
Volunteers experiences<\/strong><\/p>\n Mosaic members have chosesn to volunteer in a wide variety of ways and we will be covering some of their stories here…<\/p>\n Joanna writes: When I signed up to volunteer on an ambulance in Israel for two months, I wasn\u2019t really sure what to expect. Now, on my penultimate day of volunteering, I can say that I\u2019ve had a life-altering experience which has taught me skills I will keep forever and placed me in situations I never thought I\u2019d be in.<\/p>\n For some background: I\u2019m currently living in Israel for nine months on a gap year with BBYO Beyond. For the first four months of my programme I was volunteering in Jaffa and studying at Tel Aviv University. It was there that I learnt to speak Hebrew in Ulpan classes, and my language skills have been highly praised by all of the people on my ambulance. \u201cYour Hebrew has definitely improved,\u201d an Israeli young volunteer told me, \u201cbecause you were awful when you got here.\u201d My accent has also been commented on in terms as highly as \u201cbroken\u201d, \u201cfunny\u201d and \u201c= English\u201d. Luckily, the majority of my patients only speak Russian, so this is not too much of an issue. After Tel Aviv, I was given the opportunity to work with Magen David Adom, Israel\u2019s national ambulance service, for two months. I readily agreed to this and I am so glad I did. The programme started with an intensive sixty hour training course in Jerusalem. Each day we had ten hours of classes, which is way more than my friends have in their first year of university, and more than some of them seem to actually attend in a month. Although there was a lot of information to take in, the importance of what we were learning as well as the humour of our instructors made the week bearable and even enjoyable. After passing my test, I am now a qualified first responder and licensed to work on ambulances alongside medics and paramedics.<\/p>\n I moved to Beer Sheva, the biggest city in the Negev desert, to actually begin my volunteering alongside three other international volunteers from my programme. One of my favourite things about Beer Sheva is the diversity of the population here. As Magen David Adom provides medical service to all of Israel\u2019s citizens without discrimination, I have truly been able to witness a full spread of people from all walks of life. I have been sent to the homes of Orthodox Jews who have photos of Rabbis on every wall, to large spacious apartments belonging to secular families, to Bedouin families in the Arab town of Rahat and to Ethiopian and Indian Jews whose wedding and Bar Mitzvah photos demonstrate the true diversity of the Jewish religion. I have also been to prison twice to take inmates to hospital in handcuffs and attended to a Thai migrant worker living in a construction site. In addition, I\u2019ve been to more houses of elderly Russian people than you would have thought possible. Regardless of race, religion or nationality, all of our patients get the same medical treatment.<\/p>\n I would definitely recommend the Magen David Adom overseas programme to all those aged 18-25 and willing to spend at least two months in Israel. However anyone can help Magen David Adom by donating \u2013 and it was HEMS chosen charity in its Yom Kippur appeal. Magen David Adom receives no government funding and relies on international support to buy all of its ambulances and equipment. I have seen first-hand what an amazing organisation it is and I hope that everyone at Mosaic will give generously to ensure that they can continue the amazing work they do.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"jo](\"https:\/\/hayleyroosphotography.co.uk\/mosaic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/jo-ambulance.png\")
<\/a>Joanna Phillips from Mosaic Reform is on gap year in Israel and has trained as a volunteer paramedic with Magen David Adom (Israel’s ambulance service).\u00a0 To find out more of what she’s been doing read her blog “Blood, Sweat and Hummus” <\/a><\/p>\n