'Azzun, Imatin
09:00 We left from the Rosh Ha’ayin train station.
09:30 ‘Azzun Women’s Club. About 15 women showed up, some with their children. It’s a large group. It’s hard to work with them all. Ruth teaches crochet; Dafna and Saraleh assist her, adding to the pleasant atmosphere. The socks project they organized has ended because the women who participated learned how to knit them. In previous classes they learned the trick of knitting the shape of the sock, applied what they learned and displayed the socks they’d knitted. Some of them want to continue with ordinary crochet (wool and thread). Others decided to work with different material. Ruth had asked them to bring colorful plastic bags. She showed them how to cut the bags into strips to create “woolen” balls.
11:30 Nadim returned us to the Rosh Ha’ayin train station.
10:00 The class in Imatin. Eight women came. Two brought their children, aged 2 and 3. I kept them busy coloring on paper I’d brought for “scribbling.” Most of today’s class was devoted to reading practice. The simple texts deal with everyday matters. The women are pleased to be able to identify words. The text contains their names and the names of the children. They have special requests for next time; I promise to fulfill them. They asked how long the classes will continue. One of the young women replied for me: Until we’re able to speak Hebrew fluently.
11:30 Dvorka and Rachel met with the coordinator regarding the trips to the beach. They’d previously had a similar meeting in ‘Azzun. When the pupils learned why they’d come they became very excited. We talked for about half an hour. Before we left one of the pupils showed us girls’ clothing she’d sewn. We were very impressed. They were made with skill and with taste. They’ll be sold to one of the teachers in a nearby school.
12:00 Back to Tel Aviv.