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Running away is like sinking. The further you escape, the deeper you fall. Hopefully, you are not alone.

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When I found this dilapidated shack I immediately thought about Hanna and many others women who had to run away from their houses. Do they look similar now Are they waiting for them to come back

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Fear about a language barrier... That is what I would be the most scared of... The ability to communicate which is often taken for granted. It is important to help refugees to study Polish language. Julka Domżalska

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A bed sheet like an exclamation mark. A metaphor of an absence. The mess, the chaos, the emptiness. This is how I imagine the war.

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Photos (1st interview). Moldova, Chisinau

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Photos (1st interview). Moldova, Chisinau

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https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1PDJYZgBIV4pPBOKXWUfH__ZHdMlqZu2L?usp=sharing

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My students have finished the interviews with six wonderful ladies who come to our school every Sunday and participate in a  special senior class. They all came to Israel from different countries: Iraq, Romania, Marocco and more. They told about their home and community lives and about the day they had to leave everything behind and escape. Now we are planning taking the photos. My students had a great selling in school of snacks, sweets and cookies in order to fund the print of the photos. Adding some pictures of what we did so far.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/XUbh1wBV51E7ou5s9

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I have met with my students several times. We have practiced photography, interviewing and reviewed the goals of the project. I have a contact that knows a family of refugees and we will work on setting a time to interview through zoom, hopefully during our spring break in two weeks. We have plans for promoting the project at the school and access to a large color printer. Things are going well. Hoping everything comes together.

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Intro for an interview (Polish students)

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Intro for an interview (Polish students)

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Unfortunately, I wont be completing the project. In fact, I never really got started as I continuously hit dead-ends with the assistance of several people, including Lauren, Gili, and the folks who they referred me to.

The above screenshot shows the final communication between my school librarian and I. She served as the middle person in communicating with her cousin, who has connections with refugees. After a failed attempt to connect with a current assemblymen (who happens to be a refugee), her cousin continued to help me out, as you can see. Well, that final text also resulted in yet another dead-end.

Regardless of my failure, I look forward to seeing what the rest of you (and your students) came up with.

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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Hi, everyone!
I am Marina from Moldova. I teach 5-9th grade students EFL , middle school in Ungheni, Moldova.  My teaching experience is 15 years,
Centropa gave me the chance to meet teachers around the world, learn a lot how to teach students about Holocaust.  I have attended 4 international : Lvov, Berlin, Bonn, Odessa and 2 national seminars organised by Centropa. It was a really great experience.
I believe Stepping Into the Future with Empathy is an opportunity for my students to learn about Jewish and Ukrainian refugees, past and present, problems and solutions. Also, the important of cultural dialogue, and the value of peace.
I am looking forward to seeing you all.
Marina

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Hi everyone! I am Yonat from Yavneh Israel. I am a mother of three: Neta (14.5), Eithan (12.5) and Noga (9) and married to the best man on earth, Pini. I teach English   for the past 17 years and and this year I teach 8th graders. I am also the school's Social Activities Coordinator for the Junior High. I am a teachers' teacher, taught Pedagogy in the Academy and once a week I work for the region as content developer. When people ask me - where is your English from? I explain I had 4 English teachers: John, Paul, Ringo and George. ...That's the reason I picked this picture

I attended the Building Bridges Seminar between Israelies and German teacher, Septmber 2021 and also the last CSA July 2022. My class also won first place in the last CJN competition (I suggest you to look at their wonderful video about Eliezer Kapln https://youtu.be/tbWOv3w7JZA)

I truly enjoy my work and always looking for new ways to challange them. I believe that bringing relevant issues and dilemas to the classroom and facing them may help pupils develop their own opinions and .awarenes to become better citizens
Can't wait to see you all tomorrow and start this importnat project.

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Hi, everybody. It's so great to know that I have met each and every one of you involved in this project!

I teach 8th grade English Language Arts in El Monte, California, which is located just outside of Los Angeles.

I've attended the last four CSAs (two virtual, and two in-person). This last time around, Amikam and I co-coordinated the Border Jumping Project elective in Berlin. In fact, we'll both be busy very soon as groups will be starting their BJPs as the fall season approaches.

Stepping Into the Future with Empathy caught my attention because I have a decent amount of students who come from families who migrated from Mexico or some Central American countries.

I've always effortlessly used Centropa's materials in my instruction, but I've always had the following question in the back of my mind: "How can I take students' experience in my class to the next level?" Well, I believe this project can answer this question as my students learn about the stories of Jewish refugees while making connections to similar stories coming from their own relatives. I want them to learn things about their family that they were never aware of, beginning with the question, "Why did you move to the United States?"

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My name is Amikam Peled. I have been involved in guiding and teaching for over 30 years. I qualified as a teacher in 1993, and now I'm on my 2nd round of teaching that has continued for the last 20 years. I had a break of 7 years at the Israeli nature and parks authority as a guidance coordinator at Avshalom (stalactites) cave. I've had the opportunity to teach students ranging from kindergarten to university. Now I'm teaching at "Har-tuv" Regional School, a secondary and high school institute. I teach mainly geography, history, and civics. This year I'm also teaching Jewish peoplehood - Jewish and Israeli culture, heritage, and religion.
I love to teach and, moreover, to learn. Studying is fun for me. There is almost nothing that I can't find an interest in (except doing my nails and things like that). I love science fiction and fantasy; my life changed after I discovered the Korean option on Netflix. Yes, basically, I'm an aging nerd.
I've been with Centropa for almost 7 years. So far, I've attended 5 seminars (1 of which was virtual), 5 CSAs (2 virtual), and several border jumping activities. From my experience, meeting teachers from different countries is an enriching experience. I recognize some of the faces and I look forward to meeting old acquaintances and making new ones.

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Hi, everyone!

My name is Svetlana Kostetkaia. I was born in Ukraine but all my life I have lived in Chisinau, the capital city of the Republic of Moldova. I  teach Civics and ESL to high schoolers at Municipal  Theatre Lyceum “Iurie Harmelin”  in Chisinau.

As for my hobbies - I love Drama Arts , which I guess, can explain why I’ve been working at Theatre Lyceum for already 22 years, and I see a very clear similarity of  Drama Arts to Photography, both arts being a medium for expression and communication, both offering a deep perception and a very personal response.

I am really  thrilled to be working over the Stepping into the Future with Empathy project with amazing Centropa educators and coordinators! And I do expect this project to have a big social impact among a lot of people.  Now Moldova hosts large numbers of refugees from Ukraine and I feel  people here are not ready to deal with  this, as they haven’t had a chance to develop (yet)  the proper understanding and civic attitudes toward the issue of refugees.

And of course, I’m looking forward to see you on Zoom and to hear your ideas about the subject.

Sending you all warmest regards from Chisinau…

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My name is Yarin Raban, I teach History and Jewish Philosophy at Galili High-School in Kfar Saba, Israel. I teach grades 10-12 (ages 15-18) and this is my 7th year of teaching. I'm also a Ph.D. candidate in Jewish Philosophy and active in other fields of education and activism. I first joined the Centropa community on the latest CSA this July. I'm married and father to Adam (3) and Naomi (5mo).
I was really excited to hear about the project, being a grandson of refugees myself and a descendant of a people of refugees. Our country is filled with people who had to leave their homes due to persecution, starting with holocaust survivors, people who fled persecution in Muslim countries in the 1950s, and approximately 30,000 refugees from Sudan, Eritrea, and other African countries. There has been a lot of incitement against the latter group in Israel, and I think one of our main challenges today as a society is changing the way we treat refugees from Africa. Really excited to join you on what will surely be an interesting road.

Yarin Raban

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Hello,
I am a teacher in a public school in Los Angeles County in California which is in the United States.  I teach U.S. History to 15-16 year olds.
I am very interested in this project since we study migration to and from the United States.  This will be an excellent opportunity for students to grow and learn about others, while reflecting on many of their personal or their family's experiences.
I love to travel, read and spend quiet time at home.  I also love to garden.
I am excited to join in this project with all of you!
-Felicia Godinez

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Hi, Everybody! I am a teacher in private catholic school. I teach Polish Literature and English as the Second Language (esl) in a high school in Poland. There are many refugees from Ukraine in our school. it's rather common that they have been suffering from the post traumatic disorder. We are trying our best to help them.
I love reading books but I usually don't have time for it as I am a workoholic :)
I also love taking my Ss for adventures - as you can see my bracelet with the word UTOYA on it you can easily guess that the last time when my Ss and I were travelling was to Norway. We had workshops there about antisemitism, xenophobia and racism. I hope we will have an awesome time together!! see you soon!

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Hi Lauren and hi to everyone! I like this picture because it shows me at CSA 2019 in Berlin, looking like I am listening closely to something interesting! I am a middle school Visual Arts teacher at an independent Jewish school in Chicago. I see art class as an opportunity for students to express themselves in ways that are different from other academic disciplines. Art is also a way in which students can develop critical thinking skills and build community. I enjoy the thoughtful conversations and friendships with educators who are connected with Centopa!

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Gili at Centropa Summer Academy 2019 copy

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Hey Everyone,
Welcome to the Pilot Program of Stepping into the Future with Empathy!

Take a minute to introduce yourself with a photo and a few sentences, or a video—in addition to your students having a cross-cultural experience we're hoping to create a community of learners from California to Israel, Moldova to Poland.

I look forward to seeing everyone on October 16th—check your email for the link and other relevant information.

Looking forward to working with everyone!