COFFEE BREAK - 400 meter under sea level

The Dead Sea and the mountains of Jordan.

THE COLOR PURPLE

"I think it pisses god off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it."

Quote by Alice Walker in the book "The Color Purple"

Photographs by Uri Eshkar

YOM AZMAUT SAMEACH - יום עצמאות שמח

Happy Independence Day! יום עצמאות שמח

RAMAT HA GOLAN - LAKE GENEZARETH

Our weekend: sun, blue sky, mountains and hills, trees and an abundance of flowers, ponds and the Kinereth, Mount Hermon, and even storks - all for free!

Photos by Uri Eshkar

PRAMILA FROM NEPAL

During our life we meet many people. Some just cross our path, greet us quickly, leave at once. Some get influential on us, teach us, advise us, help us, and others stay longer and become our friends, the most treasured we learn to love and they will be forever in our souls and hearts.

My husbands father is almost ninety years old and he was independent till over a year ago. Then he was hit by a stroke and by that time his wife was already terminally ill. We realized that we needed help and we hired a live-in care taker, thus Pramila from Nepal came into our life. My mother-in-law sadly passed away a little while ago and Pramila is looking after my father-in-law now all the time. Mila, for short, is a dear and kind woman, and she does her job to uttermost satisfaction.

The mental situation of my father-in-law improved a bit, he again recognizes people and understands what is going on most of the time. But he is very weak now physically and gets weaker every day. So for us it is a big appeasement to know he is well cared for on a daily basis in his own environment, at home, not only for the necessities of his fragile body, but also for his emotional needs.

Mila cooks, cleans, does the laundry, helps him to wash and dress, takes him in the wheelchair to the park and for a stroll around the block, or just downstairs to sit in the sun - she is near him all day, keeping him company, always with friendly smiles and assuring words, in her quiet calm way. She plays with him cards and watches with him TV. She gives him his medicine and is very attentive over his well being, keeping him comfortable, trying not to intrude his privacy too much.
When we come to visit, she is pleased and happy and treats us to a hug and to coffee and cookies in a matter of course! We all learned to love her!

Nepal is a very pure country. Milas parents went to search for a better life in India and she was born there. She has seven siblings, brothers and sisters. When she was about eight or nine years old the family returned to Nepal, to the beautiful city of Pokhara, where she grew up. She married and had two children, boys, now 14 and six years old. Due to the harsh economical situation in Nepal many women look for opportunities to improve the life of their families. It is very common now in Israel to hire care takers for the elderly instead of putting them in nursery homes. We have women who work here from Thailand, the Philippines and many from Nepal. Mila got prepared for her job by an agency in her country, with the main purpose on learning the language - and indeed she speaks Hebrew very well! She came here two years ago and this is her second job. All the money she earns goes to her family in Nepal and is saved, with the dream in mind of buying land one day and build a small house.
Her sons live with one of her sisters and are taken care of by their father as well. She talks to them every week on the phone and when she tells me about it her face beams! Another sister is also working here in Israel, she chats with her via e-mail and cell phone most days and meets her occasionally.
In such a short time she became an important and cherished part of our life. She is with us on each family occasion and every one is very fond of her.

Thank you so much for everything Mila!