Dear Lissan Community,
Last month, we finished the tenth year of Medabrot Ivrit - Women Speaking Hebrew, Lissan’s flagship project! Through this project, East Jerusalemite Palestinian women acquire practical Hebrew language skills to access rights, resources, and opportunities.
To mark this exciting occasion, we gathered together with over 300 students, 50 volunteer teachers, 17 coordinators and staff members, partners and family members (over 700 people total!) for our annual graduation ceremony.
We were beyond excited and moved to see every student cross the stage and receive her diploma. After a year full of hard work, each student was cheered on by her family and friends!
We are experiencing tough times do not take for granted the fact that we were able to come together with 700 men and women from East and West Jerusalem to celebrate the successes of our students and this project, taking a moment together to strengthen our resolve to continue to work towards a more just and equal Jerusalem.
An enormous thank you to our amazing volunteer teachers and coordinators - without you, this year would not have been the same!
To our partners and supporters - thank you so much for your continued support and partnership, we would not be here without you!
Here’s a taste of the graduation ceremony:
Saying goodbye to Natasha and welcome to Zahieh!
After two and a half amazing years, our Natasha is continuing on to her next adventure. Dearest Natasha, thank you for your devotion, professionalism, and passion that you brought to Lissan!
As COO, you pushed Lissan forward and guided us through a period of growth and expansion over the last year and a half. We hope that just as you cause Lissan to grow, you also grew and developed thanks to Lissan. We have no doubt that you will continue to spread the light any and everywhere you go!
We would like to welcome Zahieh Abu Ghannam, Lissan’s new Program Director. Zahieh joins us after five years as Deputy Director of 0202 and 8 years teaching Arabic at Shalem College. Dearest Zahieh, we are very excited to welcome you to Lissan, and are excited for you to share your experience, professionalism, and spirit that you bring with you! We wish you the best of luck!
Invitation for Companies to Join “Practice Your Hebrew”
Do you know a company or business looking for a meaningful volunteer opportunity? Send them our way! After a successful pilot of “Practice Your Hebrew” in partnership with Intel Israel, we are looking to expand the project and are looking for additional companies and businesses to work with us. This project consists of a series of conversations over the phone with our students. Each volunteer is paired with a student to have weekly conversations on a series of predefined topics according to the students’ levels. Volunteers undergo training and receive guidance from Lissan’s pedagogical staff. For more information (in Hebrew), see the flyer below, and feel free to pass it on!
Be a Medabrot Ivrit - Women Speaking Hebrew volunteer teacher!
It’s that time of year again, and we are thrilled to open registration for our 23-24 cohort of Medabrot Ivrit - Women Speaking Hebrew volunteer teachers! Medabrot Ivrit - Women Speaking Hebrew aims to instill practical and essential Hebrew skills to East Jerusalemite Palestinian women. Every pair of volunteer teachers teaches one group of students once a week over the academic year. If you have teaching experience and the desire to volunteer and advance a more just Jerusalem, join us, or spread the word to other potential teachers!
Have a great summer!
Yours,
Talia and the Lissan staff