GPM welcomes our summer 2013 JDC Entwine Multi-Week Global Jewish Service Corps Fellows

We give a hearty welcome to GPM's summer 2013 JDC Entwine Multi-Week Global Jewish Service Corps Fellows:

Roxanne, Sami, Brittany, Brianna, Melissa, Rachel and some others on a bike tour of Mumbai

Roxanne Brodsky, San Diego California
Roxanne is currently studying to become an elementary school teacher. She is involved with SDSU Hillel where she holds a position of Vice President of Tzedakah. In this role, she has instituted monthly mitzvah projects for Hillel students. She works as a 3rd grade Judaica teacher at Congregation Beth Israel in San Diego and also as a nanny. She is very involved in community service with an organization in Hillcrest, CA, delivering food to people who are home bound due to health issues. Roxanne also does yoga, bikes, hikes and surfs. She tries to get to the beach as often as possible.

Brittany Cooke, Miami Florida
Brittany received her BSc in Liberal Studies from the University of Central Florida and studied abroad at Edinburgh College of Arts for a summer semester. After graduation she interned at TOMS Shoes Headquarters in Santa Monica California. Her duties as Social Media intern included managing online viral accounts and multiple social media campaigns. Brittany was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo, West Africa, where she was a Girls Education and Empowerment Volunteer. Brittany’s role was to enable girls and women in the community, give them the tools to educate themselves and have greater capacity to contribute more to their communities. After this she completed her Master of Science in International and Intercultural Education at Florida International University where she is also employed at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. She works in the Office of Student Affairs. Brittany enjoys sketching, painting and fine arts and in her free time she travels, bakes and reads for fun.

Brianna Fischer, Los Angeles California
Brianna recently graduated from UCLA with degrees in Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies. At UCLA she worked in the UCLA Events Office, planning major university events, as well as the Daniel Pearl Foundation, organizing international and local events promoting peace. Brianna shows her dedication to humanitarian work by volunteering at Skid Row to combat poverty, organizing alternative spring break trips with LA’s most under-served populations, working at a refugee center in Rome, volunteering as a camp counselor for disadvantaged children in Jerusalem, and volunteering in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Brianna is also passionate about education, and has tutored at an underprivileged middle school, taught international students and faculty at UCLA and has worked as a counselor at Camp Mountain Chai. Brianna spent last year studying and volunteering in Italy and New Zealand as a Kramer Global Scholar. In her free time she loves traveling, outdoor activities, sports (she is a die- hard Real Madrid fan), playing music and meeting new people. She strives to leave her mark in the world by inspiring others to become positive change-makers.

Samantha Klazkin, Plantation Florida
Sami Klazkin is a senior at the University of Florida where she is majoring in International Studies with a focus on the Middle East. She loves everything about UF and being part of Gator Nation! Sami is a member of Alpha Epsilon Phi where she serves as Philanthropy Chair on the executive board and is extremely involved with Gators for Israel. Born and raised in South Florida, Sami attended Jewish Day School from kindergarten till 12th grade. She learnt the importance of Tikkun Olam and being active in the pro-Israel community. Sami volunteered in Ecuador and Israel, her most coveted experiences. Last summer, Sami interned at AIPAC in Washington DC and gained an even greater appreciation for the passionate people working on strengthening the American-Israel relationship. Sami’s number one passion is traveling and learning about different cultures. She loves reading, hanging out with friends, going for runs (she completed a half marathon) and listening to Dave Mathews - she once drove 17 hours to see him in concert!

Rachel Salston, New Brunswick New Jersey
Rachel holds a BA in Neuroscience and a minor in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University. Rachel is a first year student at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies of American Jewish University. An alumna of Yeshivat Hadar, Rachel is also a current part time student at Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. Currently Rachel works part time as a trained Soferet STaM, a Jewish ritual scribe, trained under Jen Taylor Friedman, the first woman in modern times to write a sefer Torah. The majority of Rachel's time is is spent as a chaplain at Robert Wood Johnson University where she is a student in the Clinical Pastoral Education Program. At the 200 bed hospital, Rachel works as a pediatric and women’s services chaplain. Rachel also spends time working on the nascent egalitarian minyan at the East Brunswick Jewish Center and serves as one of the service coordinators, Torah readers and service leaders. In her spare time, Rachel enjoys paper and glass crafting, baking, swimming, and cooking various international cuisines.

Melissa Rutman, New York City
Melissa graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2011 with a BA in Philosophy and Political Science. At Penn, Melissa was involved in Hillel as well as the International Affairs Association. For the past two years Melissa has been working as a paralegal in her home town, New York City. She will begin law school this fall. Melissa enjoys many types of travel, from family trips to China to backpacking through Eastern Europe. Throughout her travels Melissa tries to learn and practice foreign languages such as French, Hebrew, Russian and she is working on her Spanish (and of course, Hindi).

A wonderful day of women's empowerment

When twelve women from the Mumbai neighborhood of Vikhroli arrived at the JDC India offices in South Mumbai, there was an immediate feeling of camaraderie and friendship. The women, mostly single and aged in their early twenties, came to participate in a series of ‘life skills’ workshops organized as the corroborative brainchild of the staff of local NGO REAP (www.reapchild.org) and the JDC-GPM Internship fellows.

As part of the goal of empowering women living in slum communities and its literacy movement for empowerment, REAP supports women rights by providing opportunities for women to acquire skills as decision-making, self-reliant, assertive, fully liberated change-agents in their communities.  The JDC-GPM interns, participants in an exciting four-month long volunteer opportunity for young Jewish Indian professionals and undergraduate students working in the slums, designed a day-long “Communication, Confidence, Leadership” series of workshops for the REAP women in order to teach communication skills and encourage confidence building among young promising women leaders from the slum community.

The day opened with the Vikhroli women of REAP arriving at JDC with REAP supervisor Mrs. Vanita Magre and meeting the JDC-GPM interns. After snacks and getting to know one another, the JDC staff and interns led workshops on life skills and career advancement tools. JDC-GPM Intern Jennifer Jacob was instrumental in leading sessions on non-verbal and verbal communication and the women participated in a valuable job interview techniques session led by JDC fellow Tahl Mayer. Jacob and Mayer led sessions on resume building and insights in communication preferences and skills including performing a comprehensive Myers-Briggs Personality Test with all participants. The day’s events were facilitated by JDC-GPM interns Nikita Worlikar and Eliana Phansapurkar as well as JDC volunteers, Mr. and Mrs. Samson and Diana Korlekar. REAP director Trevor Miranda made a surprise visit and participated with the group during the career development sessions.

The public speaking exercise was very popular with the women who enjoyed the opportunity and encouragement to speak openly about issues that are important to them; issues around women’s empowerment rights and education. According to Salome Abraham, JDC Youth Coordinator, ‘the women seemed to be eager to speak out and voice their opinions and appreciated the platform and encouragement to express themselves in a professional manner.”

The day was a testament to the hard work of REAP, the JDC-GPM Interns and the inspiring women from Vikhroli. Real change comes from communities getting together and giving each other a helping hand. Lasting change comes from grassroots support of vulnerable communities. Continued change comes from continual support of socially inspired programs like these. Based on the success of the experience, more workshops are being organized by REAP and the JDC on an ongoing basis.

GPM and the Kivunim Group

GPM’s Program Coordinator Sigalith Isaac Kurulkar recently met with Kivunim participants and staff at the famous Mumbai landmark Knesset Eliyahu Synagogue. The evening was dedicated to inform and celebrate the Jewish history and presence in India. Sigalith was invited to speak about Gabriel Project Mumbai, the quintessential Jewish initiative working for the betterment of vulnerable children in the slums of Mumbai. Kivunim is a Gap-Year program in international Jewish education that provides an intensive academic and experiential encounter with Middle Eastern, North African, Asian and European cultures. Kivunim participants study and travel to a dozen different countries, where the history of Jewish life demonstrates the powerful integration of surrounding cultures into the rhythm and experience of Judaism, fostering a strong identity rooted in knowledge of Jewish life while engaged with the international community.

Sigalith spoke about the nutrition, health and literacy challenges faced by many children in the slums of Mumbai and how GPM supports grass roots organizations like REAP to provide a supporting structure to these vulnerable children. She also spoke about the close partnership between GPM and the JDC Entwine in bringing young Jewish adults to the Mumbai slums to understand the importance of supporting the vulnerable children.

KIVUNIM’s philosophy is rooted in the belief that the world that today's young people will inherit and inevitably lead must dramatically improve its “world consciousness.”  We were grateful to be able provide some insight on the challenges faced by many children in urban slums throughout the developing world.

The spirit of caring: North Carolina to Mumbai

Erin Paley and a sweetie!

The students and staff of Carolina Day School in Ashville NC recently collected toys and school supplies to send to the children living in the slums of Mumbai. The school encourages its students to participate in community service projects locally and around the world so when they read about the volunteer experience of one of their former students in the slums of Mumbai, they felt the need to lend a hand.

Nineteen year-old, Erin Paley, wrote a blog about her experiences teaching children in the slums of Mumbai while volunteering with Gabriel Project Mumbai. In one of her blog entries Erin described some of the difficulties faced by families in the slums and the day-to-struggle to provide nutrition and education to their children.  The 3rd and 8th grade students at Carolina Day School partnered together and took upon themselves to make a difference and to send a thoughtful  package of toys and school supplies; a wonderful gesture of caring.

“One of our goals is to provide opportunities and encouragement for students to reach beyond themselves so each grade at our school has specific community service projects” explains John Douglas, Middle School Assistant Principal at Carolina Day School.” We mentioned to Erin that we, as a school, would like to do something to help her efforts and support the children and Erin said that sending a box of small toys and school supplies would mean a lot to the kids in the slums.”

Carolina Day School has implemented many global initiatives as part of its curriculum and the students and teachers are enthusiastic about helping others. “We know that we must create educational opportunities for our students that allow them to understand the commonalities that exist throughout humanity and to see diversity of opinion and thought as a strength that can be used to promote solutions to the huge problems that exist today” continued Douglas.

Gabriel Project Mumbai volunteers will distribute the toys and school supplies in early June 2013, at the start of the academic year in India.

Thank you faculty and students at Carolina Day School!

Erin volunteering in the slums. Lesson today: World Continents

Carolina Day School students holding a box of toys and school supplies

Toys

School supplies

From the slums to Mumbai's Nehru Centre of Art and Culture

On Sunday April 21, JDC-GPM Interns, JDC & GPM staff and REAP teachers, traveled with children aged 7-12 from the slums of Kalwa to the Nehru Center in Worli, Mumbai. For all 40 children, this was their first time visiting metropolitan Mumbai. For most, it was their first time out of the Kalwa slums. So of course, this was the first time they were at a museum and it would be a day they will always cherish.

The JDC-GPM Internship Program, an innovative four-month long volunteer opportunity for young Jewish Indian professionals and students, work with the children of the Mumbai slums to make a meaningful difference and a positive impact on their lives. Through an organized program of social and learning experiences the participants of the JDC-GPM Internship Program provide an informal, motivational setting to encourage social and personal growth for children with limited opportunities. Find out more about The JDC-GPM Internship Program here

The bus ventured out of the slums towards Mumbai. Ten minutes after leaving the slums, the children were overhead speaking to each other in amazement as they saw some of the tall modern buildings that dot the more influential parts of Mumbai. They understood that the people living in theses apartment buildings had water, electricity and food in their homes while the children’s family’s homes had none of these ‘comforts’…

The Nehru Centre houses 14 galleries that make up the Discovery of India Exposition, covering every aspect of artistic, intellectual and philosophical attainment of India through the ages. Its 50,000 exhibits and interactive audio visual displays, determine, true identity of the country. The Centre was chosen specifically to introduce the children to their India. The interactive exhibits brought to life prestigious Indian personalities like Gandhi, Nehru, Tagore and Akbar. The most impressive part of the museum was the professionally made movie, ‘Who Are We?’ that traced the incredible history and development of the Indian people throughout the ages. We wanted the children to be exposed to the many cultures, religions, traditions and people that are part of their identities as citizens of India. We wanted the children to appreciate that they were significant members of the multicultural and ethnic makeup of their wonderful country. We wanted to instill in them the idea that they are important and that they can contribute and thrive in their society.

The museum and the beautiful gardens surrounding the centre were idyllic locations for the fun activities prepared by the Indian Jewish counselors.  The well developed program, masterfully led by JDC-GPM Intern, Jennifer Jacob, was well-structured and the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The children enjoyed the games and learning activities facilitated by Tahl Mayer, Salome Abraham and Sigalith Isaac of the JDC and GPM. Everyone appreciated Elijah Jacob, Director of JDC India taking time out of his busy schedule to interact with the children, especially as he brought chocolates for all! Once again, the JDC sponsored a wonderful nutritious breakfast and a nourishing lunch; something that the children did not take for granted! 

The JDC-GPM youth are important actors of social change. They are special people giving the equally special children living in the slums the message that they are loved, that they can follow their dreams and thrive.

Jennifer leading an activity

Salome showing a boy how proud she is of his work

Salome and Tahl with the children hard at work

Tahl and the kids at the Nehru Centre

Mr Elijah Jacob and friends

The Good People Fund supports Gabriel Project Mumbai in alleviating the suffering of children in the slums

The Good People Fund, a wonderful  tzedakah  fund (charity) whose motto “Small actions, huge impacts” refers to their dedication to ‘low overhead organizations, run by “good people” who use creative ways on making strong inroads in easing poverty, hunger, disability, social isolation and more’, has granted Gabriel Project Mumbai a generous donation to support our work.

When we approached the Good People Fund, they were touched and moved by our commitment to providing hunger relief and literacy for children living in India’s slums. They heard about the hardships and suffering (malnutrition, child labor, illiteracy and hunger) of the children and families living in the slums and then they took action. The Good People Fund decided to generously support the nutrition and literacy of more than 50 children living in the slums over the course of one school year.

Gabriel Project Mumbai appreciates the goodwill of the Good People Fund and thanks them for their support and their dedication to giving many children living in the slums a life of hope and the opportunity to thrive.

To learn more about the good work done by the Good People Fund, click here. To learn more about how you can make a meaningful difference in the lives of vulnerable Indian children, click here

Join us at a GPM event at Boston's historic Vilna Shul!

Join us at the historic Vilna Shul, in Boston on Sunday 12th May (4pm) to hear about Gabriel Project Mumbai's work with vulnerable children in the slums of Mumbai and celebrate the rich history, vibrancy and traditions of the Indian Jewish community:

Giving of Ourselves

Exploring Jewish India with Gabriel Project, Mumbai founder Jacob Sztokman

 NEW DATE: May 12^th at 4:00pm

18 Phillips Street, Boston, MA

Take the Red Line to Charles/MGH

Join us at the Historic Vilna Shul for a special event as we celebrate the richness of global Jewish life and the groundbreaking work of the Gabriel Project, Mumbai.

Founded in 2011, the Gabriel Project works to inspire the worldwide Jewish community to take action in the slums of India. At the core of the organization are young Jews from around the world who dedicate their time to teaching literacy and providing nutrition for children living in Mumbai’s slum. Volunteers are placed in the program through the JDC's Global Jewish Service Corps.

Jacob’s organization is a stunning example of someone who combines a Jewish ethos with the Jewish historical experience and uses it to motivate others to lift people out of the bondage that is poverty.

If you are interested in serving abroad, learning about Jewish cultures, or are simply curious about what it is like to live in India, join us on April 21^st.  

We will hear Jacob’s inspirational story of his work founding the Gabriel Project and afterward enjoy entertainment and refreshments, including European Ashkenazi foods alongside sweet flavors unique to Jewish India.  This event is free and open to the public, so bring your friends!

What is the Vilna Shul?

Boston’s last remaining immigrant-era synagogue, the Vilna Shul is now a place of learning where Jewish history, culture and spirituality are open and accessible to everyone. It is a must-see historic site for visitors to Boston and a unique community venue for concerts, speakers, films and Jewish life cycle events.

For information and registration visit www.vilnashul.org or contact 

Jessica at (617) 523-2324.

Pesach and Holi: Breaking free to care

At first glance, it is difficult to see the similarities between the Jewish Passover holiday and the Hindu festival of Holi, both celebrated this week. The Passover story is based on the One God who took the Jewish people out of slavery and made them into a nation. The Holi polytheistic mythology is based on events by demons and deities leading to the salvation of a pious son (Prahlada) over his tyrannical demon father. The two back stories seemingly cannot be any more different. Nevertheless,  they do share one interesting characteristic that I realized last week while volunteering with vulnerable children in the slums of Mumbai.

In celebrating Passover we get rid of the leavened bread in our homes, a very strong commandment by God to the Jewish people who were freed from Egypt with only unleavened wafers (Matzah) in the sacks on their backs. The rabbis teach us that leavened bread (Chametz) symbolizes the excess that we have in our lives, whether material goods, swelling egos, inflated self-importance or other things in our lives that imprison and enslave our true selves. So we are told to get rid of the excess and unchain ourselves from the dependence on meaningless things that often fill our lives. The eating of simple matzah makes us free to think about what true liberation is to us. The goal is to be free.

Holi’s most enjoyable ritual for kids (and the young at heart) is a fantastic custom of throwing colored powder (Abeer) on friends and strangers alike. One idea behind this joyous ritual is that Holi marks the beginning of Spring and we all should be grateful, and take time out of our work day to enjoy the beautiful colors seen in nature at this time of year. Additionally, as it was explained to me, the throwing of bright colors causes all types of people to forgo their individual ‘look’ and join the multitudes of people on the streets, casting off their status, type of clothes, and ego in order to unify together in a brilliant show of brotherly harmony, breaking free of convention and rank.

Both holidays stress the importance of casting our egos aside to achieve a certain amount of freedom. But freedom as an end-goal is incomplete.  At the Passover Seder we invite all those who are hungry to join in our meal. We talk about the awful effects of slavery and discuss current social justice troubles in the world. And at Holi, many Hindus perform Holi Milan, visiting many people, singing songs and promoting the brotherhood among the people.

In both holidays, the message of freedom leads to the encouragement of care and love for others. The goal of freedom is not that we are just free but that we make this world a better place. This is the true meaning of freedom, and social justice for all is the true meaning of liberty.

Chag Sameach, and Happy Holi to us all!

Greatest Indian Jewish Youth Cricket Tournament in history!

GPM volunteers were honored to be invited to participate in the annual Jewish Youth Pioneers Cricket tournament sponsored by the JDC India and the local JCC. Held at the courtyard of the Sir Elly Kadoorie High School, a famous Jewish  landmark, the forty Jewish youth were divided into four teams eager to claim the winners trophy. Armed with cricket bats and the determination to beat their opponents, the teams began to battle in the day long 'box cricket match'.

The natural talent of the local players was quickly apparent but soon a MVP emerged from amongst the GPM ranks. His first time playing cricket, Josh from Ohio proved to be a great fielder, bowler an batsman. At times the innings were intense and the rapid pace of the bowling and batting got the better of several batters who attempted to hit the balls out of bounds. There is no doubt that the sporting spirit of Sachin Tendulkar, Sir Donald Bradman and Sunil Gavaskar entered the psyche of the players during this match! The match went on for several hours with a break for lunch and a little socializing.

Many thanks to Salome Abraham of the JDC and the great sportsmen and sportswomen of the JYP for an incredible experience and a most enjoyable day.