I am pleased to introduce a brand new Baltimore-Ashkelon funded project: "Teaching Ethiopian Israelis English, at Havatzelet Community Center". This is the first year we are funding this project and we are pleased to report that the project is already having a positive impact.

Our Gesher Hay program which matches schools in Baltimore and Ashkelon has been running for more than 8 years.
Marcelo Burdman is Ashkelon's Gesher Hay (Living Bridge) coordinator and Ariella Lerman is Baltimore's coordinator.
More than 60 Beit Tfiloh teens, who began their trip in Poland, have arrived in Israel.

Last week the Chairman's Mission came to Ashkelon for one very busy day.
The day started at the Ashkelon Municipality where Mayor Benny Vaknin and new chairman of the Ashkelon Partnership Moshiko Giat welcomed them. Around the table there were representatives of many of the projects funded by the partnership and some funded personally by members of the Mission such as the reading Encouragement Project, the Teen Center Music Room, Park Baltimore etc

Yom Hazikaron 2012 . Memorial day , I went to the morning ceremony at the Art school , like I do in the last 15 years since my daughter Shir started 1st grade
It's a very special ceremony, different to the ceremonies at other schools . They students plan and carry out the ceremony themselves. It's the 12th grade task. The ceremony they do as students, but in few months they will be soldiers themselves .

Today is the day we remember the holocaust victims. So many lives lost, so much tragedy. Last night we had ceremonies all over the country to honor the dead.
Today I was working in my office and so deep in concentration that I nearly fell off my chair when the siren started. At the first moment I thought it was another kassam red alert warning but in a second I realized it was a steady siren not a wailing up and down siren - it was the 2 minute siren to remember the victims. The siren is the official start of memorial services in the schools.

Wishing everyone a Happy Passover!
Now that all the cleaning is done, all the chametz has been banished, and we are putting the final touches on our special dishes for tomorrow night's Seder, it's a time to celebrate with our families. We hope we will all have a peaceful and happy Passover. The BAP office in Ashkelon will be closed until after Passover - Sunday 15th April.
Chag Sameach!
Sigal

Our Diller teens arrived home from Baltimore, tired but happy, just in time for Pesach. They had a wonderful time and we would like to say a great big THANK YOU !!! to everyone who worked so hard to make the Diller NAS program so special.
THANK YOU !!!
We are now looking forward to having the Baltimore teens in Ashkelon in the summer!
Sigal

Our 2012 Diller delegation is in Baltimore now !
19 Diller teens together with their Coordinator Uriel; their Israeli Shinshinit: Rony; and their 2 junior counselors: Amit and Adi.
It's the 7th year of the program and we now already have siblings of the first few programs in both groups Ashkelon and Baltimore. They left Ashkelon on Wednesday night but it seems like ages ! My son is with the group and he is staying with the Neumann family.
What a great opportunity for teens to make life-time connections with other Jewish teens.

This year each of the Mayors from the 8 cities participating in the Diller Teen Fellows program recorded a Bon Voyage message to their Diller teens before their trip to the USA.
Mayor Benny Vaknin met with coordinator Uriel Ezra, with Diller alumni Daria Gafarov, and myself and recorded greetings to our 20 teens.
Sigal

Today for the first day we had quiet. Not one rocket here. People still don't feel 100 percent and the kids didn't go to school. If Shabbat stays quiet, on Sunday everyone will be back in place ... at least we hope so.
We are spending Shabat with my sister-in-law near Kfar Saba, but we will keep following in news.
Shabat shalom!
Sigal

Last night, a lot of people from Asheklon participated in a wedding at the Tel Aviv port; the daughter of one of Ashkelon's Municiaplity's Deputy Mayor. Lots of ministers, Knesset members, city council members, the mayor, other deputies, municipal spokespeople ...
On the way, we heard that three Grad rockets were launched at Beer Sheva . One was intercepted, one fell in an open field, one hit the ground. A few minutes later it was annonnced, "No school in Beer Sheva tomorrow." After a few more minutes, most of the south region mayors joined this decision...

I just got back from the parents meeting for our Diller group, leaving for Baltimore next week. We had to change the meeting place to one of the highschools in a building that has a sheltered area in case there would be a siren while we were meeting. During the meeting, I got a text message: "Home Front Command allows the children to go back to school tomorrow." What a wonderful message!

Since earlier this afternoon we had many sirens, three in the past hour-and-a-half. We have this routine: You hear the siren, run to hide under the staircase, and wait, listen . One boom - the Iron Dome is being launched at the rocket. A second boom, almost immediately after the first one - a successful hit. ... Crazy how you get used to craziness .
No school today.

My first blog on this new platform. Looking forward to continuing to share with you...
It was going to be just another routine Purim .. but as we know our reality is never "routine." The weather this Purim was going to be gorgeous, after a few rainy winter days, everyone waited for the sun to rise and the kids to dress up in their costumes and give out mishloach manot.