Shoham's+I+face

= = toc =RATIONALE= I decided to interview Niva Ament because I think she is a very special person, and she contribute a lot to Israel by her job and by raising her children in our country. Niva works with children that for various reasons can not be raised by their biological parents, and she needs to find them foster homes. This job requires many different skills, such as social skills, psychological skills, professional attitude to various types of people, strong intuition, and many more. In this project I hope to achieve knowledge about foster families and how can I contribute to these children or to the families. I also want to show how new immigrants can be involved and can contribute so much to needy people in our country. I hope to learn from this project how to be a better citizen in my country, and how can I as an individual in the country can contribute to make it a better place to live in.

= = =Niva Ament- profile= Niva Ament made aliya in 2000; with her husband and 3 children. At the time she worked as a lawyer. Niva and her husband had talked about the aliya since they started dating and when they got married, they knew that they wanted to move to Israel. They were Zionistic and loved Israel. Many years before Niva and her family tried Israel out for a year when she was 14 but it didn’t work out because of her father's new business. He had to fly back and forth a lot and it didn’t work out so they all moved back. This aliya planted a seed for the whole family to come back to Israel at the end, one at the time.

When Niva and her family came to Israel, it was at the time of the Intifada, so no one really came out of their houses, and she didn’t really meet anyone. So she decided that she couldn't stay in this country unless she stared to work "I have to contribute" she said. When she started working she felt she also made friends at work and at her community. But at work she really felt part of Israel and she felt at home. She thinks Israel is an amazing and she loves to go to the north, and to the spa that is there.

picture from a Personal Collection

When she came to Israel Niva felt that she was a bit behind from all the Israelis because she came from a different place and had a different culture and that she has to make new trends and create new things, though since she didn't have anyone to follow it was challenging- she had to find her own path with out any model to follow.

Niva decided to find her own path by starting to work she started to work in foster care she worked in it for the last 12 years. She is in charge of the placement of babies and children – until age 3. It is a big section in the country; the cases come in from the entire country. The babies that come are babies who their parents can't take care of them for many reasons – past history of abuse or neglect of other children, or cases of drugs, alcohol, or if parents are mentally not fit. Very often when a baby is born they already know at the hospital that they have to notify Niva. They call the services and very soon after, Niva gets the call and the service tells her that she has to find a placement for the baby.

She has to match between the baby and the family who is waiting to take him. Though it is very tricky, "this job is very fulfilling" she says. "If you make one placement it gives her a lot of satisfaction and it is challenging". She had made many placements, and each one of them is fulfilling. Each time it makes her cry because she is giving a chance to a child who has come from terrible conditions. She sees case after case where the child may have not progress in there life, and may have not progressed at all.

Every family comes with a lot of motivation to help the child develop. It gives the baby a new chance in life which is better. This baby was born with bad condition at the beginning, which is not his fault, so these families really help him. Every day at her job is different. Usually she is juggling a few placements at once. She has a lot of connections in the country – with hospitals, families and services so it is very challenging for her. Niva says that this job is never boring. Sometimes it can be too challenging, but that is part of the picture. For now she feels that this is the right place for her.

Niva says that there is nothing more important than giving as a person and that is what foster care is all about: saving souls. Before every placement she considers if that is the right placement and if she doesn't feel it she waits until she gets the feeling in her soul. Then she does her job again and every time does it in a complete way.

She remembers at one of her placement that she made, she didn’t have any family in mind and the baby was about to be born: he was born and was a little sick. The hospital told her that the baby has to leave the hospital, so then she came up with an idea and called a Charedi family. With in an hour they came to her office. The father is a Cohen and he shouldn't have come into a hospital, but he considered it "redemption of captives" and he was willing even though he is a Cohen to come in to the nursery to go get the baby. The family stood by the baby and they knew that he was good for them so they took him.

Niva says that she is always on the phone, and her cell phone rings non-stop. She supervises students and other people: people just don’t stop calling her. People who wait for babies, people who already have babies are calling because they want to bring them to foster home. The services call when they have new placement. People even call from out of the country, to say that they heard about this and they are thinking of making aliya so they can have a baby from the foster home: and the phone just doesn’t stop ringing.  Niva doesn't leave her work in the office she also brings it back to home-she is foster caring for one of her clients. When he came to her office and she picked him up she felt that he had very good eye contact and attachment. He was born very early, so he was very small. He was with a different foster mom first for a few months but she had to go to America and Niva felt it was a shame because the foster mother had started something so good with him and he looked healthy. So when she held him she felt she waned to continue what had been started. It was very scary for her to decide, but the whole family was on board. Everyone wanted him so they went on it and took him. The baby is called "Osher" which is Happiness and he really is happy, he has really improved and he is attached to the family. He is very loving and he returns the love that the family gives him: that keeps them going. picture from a Personal Collection  She feels that receiving this baby is greater then anything she has taught her children. The whole family was able to learn what real giving is and what it means to give and to be dedicated, especially with this baby. It is not easy because they have to give extra help to the baby, but that is what is beautiful about it, helping other people.

"Everyone can help these babies", says Niva, by volunteering and babysitting, sometime these families finds it hard because they usually have other kids and the babies takes so much attention and energy: more then the other kids, the babies have their own needs so it is very important to help them complete every ones needs Niva once heard from a lady that 24 hours is a long time and you can fit in a lot. sometimes she feels she has to cut up a little bit- it is a big career and the biggest challenge is always find the balance and always check if it is the right balance, it is tricky.  Niva very likes Israel and she and she doesn't regret that she moved here. She contributes to the country a lot by her special job she helps many kids find worm homes. Niva is a very special person

=BACKGROUND RESEARCH=

The word "foster" means to help someone (or something) grow and develop. It also means to take care of someone's needs. Foster parents, then, are people — other than a kid's parents — who provide a safe place for kids to be cared for. They take kids into their homes and let them stay for a while.

According to Nancy S. Ashe is a program, run by the state, which allows parents, to become foster parents and to care for children who have been removed from their biological home. There are a number of reasons why children might be removed from their biological home, including abuse and neglect. A parent may be very the picture is from the website www.kidsdomain.com/ holiday/mom/color/b7family.gif sick, in jail, or have some other trouble. Often, parents who have had their children removed from their home are given a plan to follow, which will help them get back custody of their children. The main goal of foster care is to look after the children until their biological parents are allowed to have their children back, although it isn't uncommon for children placed in foster care to become.

According to steven Dowshen not just anyone can be a foster parent. The office that organizes the foster family program checks out people who want to be foster parents. They need to make sure that foster parents are responsible, law-abiding people who will take good care of foster children. Foster parents can be a married couple or a single or divorced person. They can be young or old, with jobs outside the home or not. They can have young children of their own, grown-up kids, or none at all.

It's common for a person's home to be inspected and for the person to receive training before he or she is allowed to care for foster kids. Foster parents sometimes have to pass a written test! The training they get is important because it helps them understand and work with the kids who are coming to live with them. It's very difficult for a kid to leave his or her parent, or parents, and move in with a foster family. This is true even if there were a lot of problems and unhappiness in the home. Foster parents need to be especially kind people to help kids feel safe and cared for during this stressful time.  Each state completes their process a little differently, but generally, each state will have similar requirements. Some requirements to become a foster parent in the U.S.A may be: · Background check and finger printing · Comprehensive home study to ensure child safety · First aid certification · Medical clearances for all adults and children currently in the home · Statement proclaiming that corporal punishment will not be used · Statement advising your role as a mandated reporter []  the picture is from the website []

Most of the time, kids live in homes where they are loved and get all the important things they need. But if a kid's mom or dad can't provide proper care or is hurting or abusing the kid, the state needs to step in and place the child in another home. It's often not forever, but until the child's parents or another relative can care for him or her properly. It might be just for overnight, or it might be for a few months or several years.

Wikipedia, foster care, 2 February 2010, 4.2.10, []

Adoption, foster parenting, 1.2.10, [|http://www.fosterparenting.com]

=LITERARY CONNECTION=

**אין לי ארץ אחרת** אין לי ארץ אחרת גם אם אדמתי בוערת רק מילה בעברית חודרת אל עורקי אל נשמתי בגוף כואב בלב רעב כאן הוא ביתי.
 * מילים: אהוד מנור **

לא אשתוק כי ארצי שינתה את פניה לא אוותר לה אזכיר לה ואשיר כאן באוזניה עד שתפקח את עיניה  I have no other country Even if my land is burning Just a word in Hebrew penetrates to my arteries, to my soul in a body aching, in a hungry heart, Here is my home.

I will not remain silent Because my country Has changed her face, I will not give upon her, I will remind her, and sing here in her ears, Until she will open her eyes

The song talks about the writers' feelings towards Israel. In the song the writer explains why he is so connected his country. He says that even if his country is on fire he is not going to leave.

The writer Ehud Manor says that he doesn't have any other country to go to and this is his only home he also says that even if his country will change he will still like it. The song shows as that even in very bad times in our country, we will not leave, and we will try to do what ever we can to improve the situation.

Manor said in one of his interviews that he wrote the song in protest against the fact that too many soldiers are getting killed in the wars, and the government is not caring enough about it. (Ehud Manor has lost his brother Yehuda in the war of attrition in 1969.) The song was adopted by many of the protesters against the Lebanon war, and many others from different political backgrounds, who wanted to protest against government policies during the war.

The author's main point in my opinion is that the country is the most important thing in life, and no matter what will happen to the country it will always be perfect for him.

My connection to the song is the fact that the song reflects my strong feelings towards my country, the words of the song represent the ideas I believe in.

Like the author, I feel very strongly that I have no other country I can call home. For example: if I go on a trip to another country, and I see beautiful places and amazing views, I still feel like a complete stranger, which bring me to realize that I have no other place I can call "home" but my country, my home-land - **Israel.** ** Israel ** is my only home, and it can not be replaced!!

The connection to the project is the fact that immigrants came to our country because of their strong feelings of connection, like me they feel that their real home is here in Israel, and they know that the best way to contribute to their country is to come and live here.

= CREATIVE CONNECTION =

media type="custom" key="6302521" <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I have decided to show pictures of flowers in Israel because of the special climate we have in our country. The flowers are unique, and the flower industry in Israel is exporting millions of flowers abrade every year. Even though Israel is a very small country, there are many different types of climates, for example in the north we have the cold weather of Mount Chermon, and in the south we have the hot weather of Eilat.

My grandfather works with flowers, he is in charge of sophisticated green houses that were made especially for growing unique types of flowers. He came back from the famous flower exhibition in Holland; and said that Israel's flowers are in grate demand at all world markets.

While obviously we think that the flowers that decorating places abroad come from many places, it is surprising to find that a high percentage of flowers that will be used for decoration during different festivals are originally from Israel.

Since Israel began as a large exporter of flowers in the 70s, businesses thrive. During the peak of success in the 80's, Israel was the world's second largest exporter after the Netherlands. 100 million flowers that grow in an area of 3,000 Acers, are sold abroad each year and made the industry stands at 750 million shekels.

The success story of the Israeli flower industry is because of persistence and innovation is a combination of professionalism and because of the various growth areas and plans for development. Israel can provide a selection of outstanding quality, even in midwinter.

I think that the flowers show the beauty of our country, we have a variety of flowers, that together are creating a beautiful picture, and a nice place to live in.

=REFLECTION=

My expectations from this project were to learn about my country and about being a better citizen, through the immigrants who came to Israel and left their other life behind. I found it very interesting to see what it's like to move to a different country and a new culture to the holy land, and despite of all the difficulties to be able to manage in such a fantastic way.

I achieved most of my expectation, and it went really well. I learned more then I expected and I had a really good time interviewing Niva. I felt that the project helped me understand the importance of living here in Israel, and that we have great people who want to come and live here and make a difference.

In the next project that we may have I would want to interview people who are living here for a long time and are contributing to our country and to our communities. I would like to focus more on the importance of living in Israel, and who can we concentrate on bringing more people to our county. I would like to rise the awareness to how important it is to live here as a nation, and to use our resources for good things, in order to make Israel a better place to live in.

I learned about my self that we are doing a good job, but there is a lot to improve here. We need to help the immigrants feel better, and make them feel at home, in order to make more people come here. I really love my country, and I hope that many Jewish people will feel the same way and will come to live here with us. In this project I felt that I improved my writing skills, and my researching skills, and I've learned how to use higher language. I felt that working on-line was a good experience but I faced some difficulties when I had to post my work on-line and it made me frustrated that it didn’t work, and it didn’t come out as well as I would like it to be, but at the end I really enjoyed it.