Summer visiting season is upon us – and we continue to have a busy year!
Here are some highlights:
We had a great time with our dear friend and supporter Dr. Billye Brim in June, starting off the summer season with a lively tour of Ariel with our friends from the US.
After a performance at the Ariel Regional Center for the Performing Arts from our Celebrate Ariel International Folk Dance Troupe, and an orientation about Ariel and the region, we set off to the Ariel Pioneers Museum for a presentation and talk from Dr. Brim herself and from Dorith Nachman, the wife of late Ariel mayor Ron Nachman.
After a brief tour of the Ariel National Center for Leadership Development (ANCLD), we stopped at the Lowell Milken Family Sports and Recreation Complex and the Dr. Billye Brim Community Pool and met with Mayor Eliyahu Shaviro. We hope you come back soon!
This summer we’ve seen not one, but two UJS student groups visit the Ariel Young Adult Center for some deep discussion about the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, regional issues, and daily life in Ariel.
We salute UJS representatives on college campuses in the UK for their hard work standing up for the region. We hope to see more delegations soon!
Faith Bible Chapel (FBC) and Ariel have held a special relationship for over two decades.
This year, we were privileged to welcome three different FBC delegations in Ariel: a performance from the hit singing-and-dancing group The Internationals, a group of engaged volunteers who put their hearts into teaching the first annual group of Ariel Summer School English-as-a-second-language students, and a delegation of FBC basketball teams of all ages.
The Internationals once again amazed us with their professional and upbeat performance at the Ariel Regional Center for the Performing Arts. This year, Mayor Eliyahu Shaviro welcomed them at a weekend performance at the venue which drew the general public – and the group garnered rave reviews. Click here to see a clip from the show.
Weeks later, we welcomed a group of 40 FBC volunteers of all ages into our homes and hearts for one month as they taught English to Ariel children in the first annual “summer school” – a 3-week intensive English immersion camp taught at the local community center. We thank our volunteers for their efforts and making the program a true success.
In early July, we got our game on with a series of American-Israeli basketball tournaments here in Ariel, thanks to a multi-generational FBC delegation and our own local basketball enthusiasts. Everyone had a great time playing ball.
On June 28, a group of 40 students from the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA)’s college campus delegation visited Ariel for a morning of insight and hands-on learning. The day began with a briefing at the Ariel Regional Center for the Performing Arts – and some fascinating Q & A.
The group then visited the Ariel Industrial Park to learn about Industry and see Israeli-Palestinian coexistence in action.
We ended the visit with an informative driving tour of Ariel from West to East — to see the full gamut of what one city in Samaria can offer Israel and the world.
On June 30, our good friends, Pat Cerjan and her sons David and Tim, joined us for another IMPACT youth and young adult delegation.
They spent the bulk of their visit training at the Ariel National Center for Leadership Development (ANCLD), learning about themselves and one another.
On July 10, we met with 15 outstanding student representatives from Seeds of Peace to discuss the geopolitical situation in Ariel and the region. Taking an intensive look at the regional context for Ariel, we enjoyed almost 2 hours of engaging discussion at the Ariel Young Adult Center. We look forward to seeing more Seeds of Peace groups in Ariel!
One day later, we met with an entirely different type of group: a dynamic group of professors studying Israel-related issues at the Brandeis Summer Institute. After a riveting orientation and Q/A at the Ariel Regional Center for the Performing Arts (and a fun sneak peek at the Ariel University graphic design school’s final projects displayed in the lobby), we set out to see coexistence in action at the Ariel Industrial Park. There’s nothing like experiential learning to put a new perspective on the issues, and we had a great time experiencing it together.
On July 20, we were privileged to welcome the Philos Project Leadership Insitute in Ariel for a deep dive into regional issues. Each of the 30 young leaders had great questions during our introductory orientation and Q/A session at the Ariel Regional Center for the Performing Arts – which was followed by in-depth personal interaction with residents at an enlightening lunch at the Young Adults Center. From there, we headed out to the Achva factory in the Ariel Industrial Park for an informative (and tasty) look at mutual economic investment in the region. We finished up with leadership-building activities at the ANCLD.
We’ve had a great year for visitors so far! Click here to see more photos.