Day 25 - Lehava - Rebecca & Tali
After reuniting with Lehava after 3 days of options, we were overjoyed to have our family back together. We were greeted in the morning with a large variety of breakfast delicacies and many were almost brought to tears of joy at the sight of the Neve Ilan’s barista.
We were divided onto busses according to the Tel Aviv option of our choice. The options included: visiting Save A Child’s Heart (SACH), a graffiti tour in Tel Aviv, or a paint bar. We both chose to visit Save A Child’s Heart, as we had heard so much about the organisation in Sydney and wanted to learn more about it.
After a short bus ride to Holon, we arrived at the home where many children who have had or will have a lifesaving heart surgery funded by the organisation, live. Before entering the SACH home, we were expecting to enter into a hospital-like environment where the kids were bed-bound. As we entered the house, we were greeted by many joyful little faces, running around a colourful room, playing nicely with one-another. We were happy upon realisation that despite heart problems, the children were still normal children. We sat down to listen to a presentation by an employee of SACH. Even throughout the presentation smiles were brought to our faces when the children were playing and having a ball. We learnt that SACH has saved the lives of more than 5000 children from 61 countries in Africa, South America, Europe, Asia and throughout the Middle East. They have also trained over 120 medical team members.
After hearing about this amazing organisation we were given free time to play with the kids. To our surprise, they immediately connected with us and it was as if we had known these kids for years. Our hearts filled with joy as we played, and to call these kids cute is an understatement. Each child had their own likes and dislikes; some liked drawing, some liked building, and all loved our phones! From playing Subway Surfers to taking pictures and using the snapchat filters the children really did know their way around the iPhone. We interacted with the children for around an hour and a half, and for an hour and a half we had smiles from ear to ear. The happiness radiating from the kids were infectious and one couldn’t help but feel their joy. Departing was the hardest task as saying goodbye was very tough. These kids were so adorable and delightful we all left wishing we had adopted them.
After leaving SACH, filled with lots of positive energy, we went to eat lunch. We drove to Tel Aviv, and sat on the grass close to the beach. All of Lehava combined at this point, and we caught up and discussed our experiences in our options over delicious schnitzel sandwiches and fresh vegetables.
We began a short walk to Tel Aviv’s famous Shuk HaCarmel. Many had been before and many were about to see this Israeli landmark for the first time. IST took over and practically funded the Israeli economy for the rest of the year. Purchases ranged from jewellery, to humorous underwear, to ice creams, to fresh fruit, to Gucci belts, and basically anything else you can think of. Australian students from Moriah found it difficult to bargain with the stubborn and tough Israelis. Some gave up and bought items for their original price to avoid the confrontational bargaining. Our experience at the shuk ended with rumbling thunder. A shocking ending of the shuk for most girls - our hair got wet!
We boarded onto our original busses for the first time since options to make our way to The Children's Museum. Half the group would be at the blind museum - Dialogue In the Dark, and half would be at the deaf museum - Invitation to Silence.
Upon arriving at the deaf museum we were divided into three groups. These would be the groups we would go through the museum with and each group would be guided by a deaf tour guide. There are two rules of this museum - you don’t speak with your mouth, and your guide won’t speak sign language. The goal is to teach you a new way to communicate other than speech. We went through the different rooms and despite it being tough we were able to communicate with one another through our facial expressions and body language. Our guide really made our experience one to remember. Despite not being allowed to verbally communicate with him, he was still able to joke around and make us laugh. It was amazing to see the different ways we are able to communicate without speech. It was definitely tough for most of the girls. At the end of the museum experience we were able to ‘hear’ from our guide about his daily experiences. He signed to a translator and she would explain what he signed. It was very interesting to listen to the different ways he is able to live his life despite his hearing loss. When we left, we all felt so grateful for our hearing as we were exposed to a world with no hearing and the challenges that come along with it.
Before entering the blind museum, we played a few games to prepare us for an hour in total darkness. Our tour guide, Danny, was visually impaired since he was young and his vision gradually worsened. Our group consisted of 10 frightened girls who squealed through the exhibit - we all held on to each other for dear life as the rooms were pitch black. We had to feel our way through 6 rooms and listen out for Danny’s voice, guiding us around. The first room was a forest. We walked over a bridge, touched trees, and touched the water of the river. The second room was a bedroom. We felt cupboards, a bed, a table, and so on. We were actually very frightened and needed to hold on to a wall or person at all times. The next room was a boat. The floor was moving as though we were actually on a boat - this caused many falls amongst the students. We were all amazed by how real it felt - from the waves we felt at our feet, the sounds in the background, to the water splashing and wind blowing in our faces. Despite the fact that it was scary to not see what exactly was happening, we realised that we could easily work it out through our other 4 senses. From the boat, we went to the next room; a grocery store. We got to feel different fruit and vegetables, and needed to work out what was what. Then we went to the fifth room where we could sit down after a difficult experience to reach this point in the exhibit. We sat down for 7 minutes in silence to listen to a ‘concert’. We heard every genre of music and from the floor, danced stupidly because no one could see us anyways… The last room was the cafeteria. We had the opportunity to order snacks or drinks in the dark. We gathered around the table and asked Danny some questions that were on our mind about his blindness. On our way to light, we all discussed what we expected Danny to look like. When we got the final reveal, we were all surprised and shocked by what he looked like. He did not look similar to what anyone expected. It was an eye-opening way to end our experience in the blind museum because we all realised our gratitude for having 2 eyes that work and allow us to see people as they are.
After these amazing experiences we hopped on the bus and arrived at the Azrieli Mall where some were reunited with family and others reunited with food. Fun was had by all and we rolled back onto the bus with full stomachs and empty bank accounts.
Overall, everyone thoroughly enjoyed the day and we all went to sleep feeling grateful for our sight and hearing.
Rebecca Morris & Tali Zeevi - 12.12.2019
