At the beginning of January, Three "Otzma" volunteers came to the region for a three-month stay to contribute their time and energy for the benefit of the Karmiel and Misgav communities. On March 30th, they left the region for their next track.

2 volunteers are Pittsburgh residents & one of them from Tennessee. They came to the partner communities through the Partnership 2000 program sponsored by the Jewish Agency.

The three volunteers are:
• Dayna Greenfield- Dayna recently graduated from Washington and Jefferson College with a degree in business. She is very involved in all kinds of sports, and has been working for numerous organizations as a basketball coach since 1998. Dayna is originally from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
• Stephanie Fenio- Stephanie is a recent graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in media communication. She recently participated in Birthright trip to Israel that focused on media and journalism, and has worked as an intern for the National Jewish Book Council. Stephanie is from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
• Lauren Katzerman- Lauren is a recent graduate of the University of Georgia with a degree in political science. She served as president of her campus chapter of Best Buddies International for two years, as well as an executive board member of Volunteer UGA. She has worked as a head counselor at two camps for people with disabilities, Friendship Ventures Camp Friendship and United Cerebral Palsy's Camp Live it Up. Lauren is from Cordova, Tennessee.

The volunteers came to Israel within the "Otzma" Program framework. "Otzma" is a unique program that offers North American Jewish students ages 20-25 the opportunity to volunteer a year of service in Israel.

The project trains the students to serve as young leaders of their community in the future, instills in them the tools critical for understanding the problems of Israel today and allows them the opportunity to experience the Israeli life style.

Each of the volunteers will work between 6-8 hours a day, 5 days a week, in various frameworks. They will reside at the Jewish Agency Absorption Center in Karmiel and volunteer at the following locations:

• After-school youth center for Bedouin children in Misgav- the volunteers will work in one of region's Bedouin villages and assist in the implementation of various youth activities, arts and craft workshops, sports and other activities, etc.
• The Karmiel Children's Village- to provide aid to three care centers in the village and operate after-school activities
• "Warm Plate" Soup Kitchen
• "Ziv" Democratic school for teens with Special needs- the school is located in Kishorit.