I spent three weeks in South Africa on a tour of the four major cities to update the leaders of the Jewish Organizations and the Day School about Partnership 2000 programs. I met with the Youth Council, Women's organizations, heads and teachers of several Day Schools, parents and pupils, and addressed a general assembly of the Herzlia High School in Cape Town. Of course, I had extensive meetings with the leadership of the IUA.

We presently have three programs running concurrently.

Twenty-two Ambassadors for Tolerance from Johannesburg and Cape Town, accompanied by one teacher are on the second stage of a two week program with their Israeli counterparts, and are being hosted this week by Beit Shemesh-Adulam pupils.

We have two teachers from King David Day Schools in Johannesburg here on a Partnership 2000 teachers seminar. They are here for two weeks. In 1998 we had one teacher from Cape Town for three weeks. We intend to bring teachers and staff of the IUA every year, so that they can build joint programs with their colleagues.

There are three 19-year-old boys volunteering in the area and learning about Partnership 2000 by joining the teachers and the Ambassadors for Tolerance for certain parts of their programs. For example, when the Ambassadors went up North to study Arab/Israeli relations and to the Golan to get a perspective on the diplomatic process, we sent the teachers and the volunteers along.

One of the volunteers is the son of the newly appointed SA IUA Chairman and was the deputy head prefect at the King David Linksfield High in Johannesburg. Two of the boys are affiliated with Bnei Akiva.

An interesting story - they arrived on the eve of Purim, and the residents of the neighborhood organized a wonderful welcome for their guests, who are staying in an apartment we rent for our volunteers. At 1:00 a.m. some neighbors came into the apartment and read Megillat Esther to them. They were so tired that when it came to "Haman" they could barely tap their fingers on the table, but they were very grateful nonetheless. The residents also had a Purim fair the next day and all in all the atmosphere on their arrival was really Israel at its best. They were all invited for home hospitality on the first Shabbat and a great relationship is developing.

Adar Bet 5760 - April 2000