Machaneh Habonim With British Habonim!

All three buses this morning began their day on their respective kibbutzim, but left early for Acco where they were reunited with the others at a park. There, they also met with new Habonim United Kingdom peers. The Habo UK group is on their Israel trip as well which they call "Tour."

After saying their initial hellos they were split into mixed groups that included members of the British movement and started their seminar playing "outdoor training games." These included a variety of different activities using ropes and other materials as props in the games that forced them to use teamwork. Here are a variety of pics from the different games...

Lunch was a special one. A food provider brought portable pizza ovens for the group to the park and cooked a few hundred personal pizzas to feed everyone. Not to worry, gluten and dairy free options were available.

After lunch they left the park for the hostel where they are now in Acco's old city (one of my favorite places in all of Israel). The hostel was built only in the last few years and has a view from its roof like none other. Here, they had their first peulah together. It focused on what it means to be youth movement. The peulah was a round robin with stations. The first focused on why we play games in Habonim.They spoke about how trigger games (short fun games before peulot begin) are not only silly and fun, but serve a purpose and help shape the dynamic we aim to create during Habonim activities. The second station was a discussion of the goal of the youth movement to create a "children's society."  And how important it is that everyone's voice is heard. In addition, they spoke about how within the youth movement, youth take on responsibilities and have lots of autonomy. The third station addressed the idea of rebellion and how creating an alternative culture within the youth movement is a form of rebellion. They also spoke about Habonim's history of rebellion politically, on a societal level. And the last station was about the madrich (counselor) chanich (participant) relationship and the type of relationship we aim to create between the two by using dialogue and encouraging respect.

In the afternoon there was also a round of chugim (interest groups). There was a chug about language differences and different slang between the UK and HDNA. One was on high school experiences and how their experiences differ across the two cultures in North America and the UK. Another was making arts and crafts, there was one on story telling, Rikkud (Israeli folk dancing), and also improve games.

Arts and crafts. 

Dancing Rikkud

After dinner they had what the madrichim called "cafe Habonim." They discussed their relationship individually with Habonim and the differences between the two movements in the UK and in North America while eating treats in small groups.

Tomorrow is Yom Habonim where they will meet with members of Habonim from all over the world on a beach called Tzemach, on the Kinneret near Kibbutz Deganya.