Mosaic of Peace memorable Israel tour With the warmest invitation from the Israel Youth Award, three of the Hong Kong delegates, Peter, Albert and Bill have a great experience in Israel. From left to right: Bill, Peter & Albert at the HK Airport 2 nd September 2007, Sunday: Arrival After a long flight of twelve hours, we arrived at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv (Israel's second largest city, after Jerusalem). Although it was only ten o clock in the evening, we were already very tired because of the six hours time lag. We were having a good sleep in the Mishkenot Ruth Daniel Guest House in Jaffa before our trip began. Mishkenot Ruth Daniel Guest House in Jaffa
3 rd September, Monday: The Israeli society To start the program, we were having a session with the staff from the International Secretariat: General Secretary - Ms. Gilly Shirazi and Head of Operations - Mr. Andrew McMenamin. We set our goals for the tour and brainstormed ideas for improving the Award Scheme worldwide. Following that, we toured around Tel Aviv and Jaffa and saw a lot of unusual sites, such as the Rabin Square, a large public city square in central Tel Aviv. It was the place where Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel was murdered in the struggle for peace on 4 th November 1995. Photo taken with Gilly Shirazi, Secretary General of IS (2 nd left) after the training session After lunch, we drove south to Dimona; we met with the members of the Hebrew community who was involved in running the Youth Award program. We also had a chance to hear from the young people of how the Award program was influencing them positively. It was so nice to get to know them, as they were all very warm people with a fascinating life style. They shared resources within the community.
Singing Performance by the Hebrew community (left) & group photo with some of their members (right) In the evening we drove to Kfar Hanokdim and had a Bedouin dinner. The food was delicious and we ate a lot. After dinner, we had a coffee chat with Bedouin leaders and participants sharing about the Bedouin tradition. We also watched the cultural dance there performed by the young people. In that very night we all slept in the Bedouin Tent. To my surprise, it was quite comfortable and we were even having a chance to take shower in the desert. Bedouin Dinner & Tent
4 th September, Tuesday Bathing in the Dead Sea We woke up early in the morning to see the sunrise on Masada. It was best known as a place for viewing the beautiful sunrise and that s why we took a lot of pictures there. Sunrise on Masada The way up to the mountaintop After breakfast we went bathing in the Dead Sea. The floating power of the water was really amazing, we enjoyed reading books in it! One thing that we were reminded time and again was that we must be very careful to avoid the water coming into our mouths and eyes, since it was terribly salty. By the way, we turned ourselves into the Men-In-Black with the Dead Sea mud, which was reputed in anti-inflammatory and anti-aging. Guess who? Men-In-Black Bill & Albert with amazing floating skill After lunch we drove to Qumran for which was best known as the settlement nearest to the hiding place of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the caves of the sheer desert cliffs. In the afternoon we drove north to Kfar Tammra. There we were introduced to the Arab culture. We drew on the tiles in order to give our best wishes for peace and harmony to the Israeli s people together with the Israel Youth Award participants.
The Award Operator introduced to us the running of the Award in the Arab community Our wishes for the peace and harmony to the Israeli s people For this night we accommodated in the Karei Deshe Guest House (near Tiberias), with a beautiful inner courtyard surrounded with Palm trees, lawns and the magical view of sea and mountains. Bill was enjoying sitting near the Galilee Sea with delegates from other countries.
Karei Deshe Guest House (left) & the beach where Bill & the other delegates taken picture with the Sea of Galilee as background (right) 5 th September, Wednesday: Christian sites We had a lot of touring for this day. In the morning we visited some of the holy sites: Kfar Nahum, Tabcha and "Har HaOsher (Mount of Beatitudes) Snapshots of Mount of Beautitude
In the afternoon we toured in Ramat Hagolan (Golan Heights). We took some amazing pictures with the delegates from other countries just like jumping in the sky. After that we came to the Jordan River, where it was best known as baptismal place. The water there was in clear green colour and could be bought with HK$4 a bottle. We also saw some Christians baptized there. Pictures taken on Ramat Hagolan (Golan Heights)
Some pictures of the holy sites
6 th September, Thursday: Building the Mosaic of Peace This is an important day. We went to Haifa where we visited two high schools and met with participants and leaders: the Air Force high school and Leo Beck high school. The students were enthusiastic in taking pictures with us. After the visits we went to Haifa Municipality to participate in the main event - Mosaic of Peace Unveiling Ceremony, in the presence of HRH Prince Edward. The mosaic was in yeasty of peace, hope and social harmony. After the ceremony we drove south to Daniel Boat Center in Tel-Aviv, the location of the Israel Youth Award national office, to take part in the national Gold Award presentation ceremony. More that 40 round tables were fully filled with award leaders, Gold Award recipients and the delegates from all around the globe. We were celebrating their completion of Gold Award and sharing their happiness. Air Force high school Leo Beck high school
Mosaic of Peace Unveiling Ceremony at Haifa City Hall Haifa City Tour
Gold Award Presentation Ceremony at Daniel Boat Centre (Tel-Aviv) At the end of the ceremony we drove to Jerusalem (the capital city of Israel) to the Rabin Guest House, where we slept for the last three nights.
7 th September, Friday: Jerusalem After breakfast we drove to Yad Vashem and have a guided tour of the National Holocaust Memorial Museum. Then follows a meeting with Award participants and leaders from Jerusalem. Yad Vashem - National Holocaust Memorial Museum
Participants from Jerusalem sharing of their feeling and experiences of the Award with the presence of HRH The Earl of Wessex
In the afternoon we had a guided tour in Jerusalem. Because of insufficient time, we only visited the final station of the Via Dolorosa, the path that Jesus walked on the way to his crucifixion. In the evening we had a special dinner at David Citadel Hotel because of the Kabbalat Shabbat (Friday evening Jewish prayer service). We prayed and sang and danced together. Bill caught the chance to present our gifts to HRH Prince Edward.
Special dinner at David Citadel Hotel - Kabbalat Shabbat (Friday evening Jewish prayer service)
8 th September, Saturday: Multi-cultures In the morning we had our final session with the staff of the International Secretariat. We were divided into three groups to discuss about the overseas Expeditions guidelines and the ways to strengthen the linkage among the Gold Award Holders Association worldwide. Final Session with all delegates
It was wonderful that we had free time before dinner. We toured the old city of Jerusalem again with our friends met in the IGE 2005 and finished all the 14 stations of the Via Dolorosa. Old Town of Jerusalem
Via Dolorosa
We had a Multi-cultural evening every country introduced its culture in various ways. For us, we showed the delegates a video clip about the way of life in Hong Kong and taught them how to sing a children song in Cantonese with interesting motions.
Multi-cultural Evening
9th September, Sunday: Departing Before departing, we strolled along the beaches in Tel Aviv facing the Mediterranean Sea in which there were many local people playing water sports such as swimming and surfing. The trip ended beautifully together with the bewitching sunset. All in all, we have a wonderful time in Israel. Not only did we have a chance to see how the Award was running in Israel but also we could see so many old and new friends from around the globe who were sharing the same belief and vision on young people. We would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt thanks to the staff of the Israel Youth Award who had really done a very good job to make the thing happen.