Dear Volunteer
Ahalan Wa Sahalan, (Welcome)!
We wish to thank you very much for contacting us and for your interest in Maayan Babustan (Ein Bustan).
Ein Bustan is situated in the Bedouin (Arab) village of Hilf in the lower Galilee in Israel, near the Jewish town of Kiryat Tivon (approximately half an hour from Nazareth and half an hour from Haifa). Maayan Babustan is a non-profit organization that was founded by Arab and Jewish parents who shared a vision of a society in which Jews and Arabs live together peacefully in equality and understanding. They established “Ein Bustan” - the first Arab-Jewish Waldorf kindergarten in Israel - and the world! Arabic speaking and Hebrew speaking children play, learn, sing, dance, and laugh together on a daily basis in two languages, in a joint, bi-lingual and multi cultural setting. Currently we have 40 children in 3 age groups (preschool and kindergartens) and next year we are expecting to have over 70 children in 4 age groups, including class one of our pioneering school. You can read more about Ein Bustan here: http://www.ein-bustan.org/
We welcome volunteers that share our vision and feel that they would like to make a contribution through day-to-day assistance in our school. Areas in which you can volunteer range from direct work with the children as a kindergarten or class assistant, or indirectly through maintenance, carpentry, crafts, gardening, or even computer related tasks, depending on your background experience and skills.
Please take into consideration the following:
1. Age: Volunteers of any age above 18 are welcome.
2. Languages: the children in the kindergarten and school speak either Arabic or Hebrew, hence it would be preferable (although not a requirement) if you have a basic vocabulary in either of these languages. Some (not all) of our staff know English.
3. Our Calendar: our school year runs from 1 September to June 30th. There are three blocks of holiday periods around the Jewish and Moslem holidays, generally in October, December, and Spring Break (April) so you may wish to take this into consideration when planning your stay. Since our calendar is dependent on religious holidays the dates differ slightly each year, please check with us. Our school week runs Sunday to Thursday, 7:30 AM to 13:30 PM, and every other Friday between 8:00 - 12:30.
4. Minimum time period for volunteering is 3 months, maximum can be 6 to 9 months (for the length of the school year)
5. Board, lodging and living expenses: we are a small organization and therefore we are unfortunately not equipped to supply volunteers with room and board. You will need to fund these expenses on your own, or approach various organizations in your home country, which may possibly be interested in sponsoring you (fully or in part.) We cannot take responsibility for helping you to find funding, nor commit to arranging your living arrangements - however, we will be glad to assist you in exploring various options in our area (such as living with a host family, renting a room nearby, etc.)
6. Health and Insurance: you will need to provide for travel or health insurance.
Volunteering with Ein Bustan will give you a unique opportunity to become intimately acquainted with the culture, holidays and customs celebrated in both Jewish and Arab sectors of the population in Israel, in a framework unlike any other, while contributing in a very concrete way towards a path of friendship and peace.
Thank you, Shalom and Salaam,
The Ein Bustan Staff
