VISIT FROM TULSA
The Executive Director of the Jewish Federation at Tulsa visited the region recently and discussed ideas for further promoting the friendship between the two regions.
The International Relations Department of the Tamar Council has been very busy recently. We are strengthening our friendship Tulsa Oklahoma and have had the pleasure of hosting Aida Nozick, executive director of the Jewish Federation at Tulsa. A tour of the region included visits to the regional high school and Day Care centre for the Pensioners at Ein Gedi and gave us an ideal opportunity to get to know and understand each other better. Aida then continued her tour of the region visitng Neve Zohar where she was introduced to our head of council, Mr. Nir Wanger and later on a visit to the sudio of JoJo, our local artist, par excellence, at Ein Tamar.
The Tulsa – Tamar relationship is of great importance especially in the world of education. We would like to see the youth of the two regions communicating on a regular basis via technology thus enabling both groups to learn and discover each others worlds. A youth exchange programme will be established and encouraged and hopefully continue for many years to come. In addition to education we haven’t forgotten the slightly older residents. Ein Gedi and Neot HaKikar have very active Day Care centres for the pensioners – as does Tulsa – and we are discussing the opportunities that could enable an exchange of ideas between the centres resulting in long term friendships.
No sooner had we bid our farewells to Aida Nozick, but a group of young adults from Tulsa arrived on Tamar’s doorstep for an informal meeting between Ofra and I regarding Tamar and all that happens in the region. Some of the group have already immigrated to Israel and are establishing and/strengthening their ties between the two countries. The group heard all about the demographic programme in Ein Gedi, thank you to Natalie Gnatek, head of the programme and member of Kibbutz Ein Gedi, and were an absolute delight. They camped overnight at the ‘Haan’ Ein Gedi and had a evening of entertainment with Mr. Gil Caspi playing on the Darbuka drums, cooking marshmallows and potatoes on the bonfire and socializing with local residents and young adults over a glass of wine/beer. We hope that we will see at least a few of them applying to live in our region in the near future.
We are looking forward to creating a programme of opportunities between our two regions and a long lasting friendship.
