Page 14 - C.A.L.L. #29 - Winter 2007

KALEIDOSCOPE

From my very own extended personal experience as coordinator, I gleefully remember some
unusual stories. There was that French girl Sylvie who did an outstanding job as evening
dishwasher - I dare to say, at least equal to the present, complicated machinery. Not one
evening did she miss for months, until one day she quite suddenly announced that she needed
a few days break. Why? asked the disconsolate kitchen boss, what is wrong? Did anybody
hurt your feelings? No, responded the dishwasher abashedly, my mother is coming for a visit
to Israel - and if she sees me washing dishes I'll have to
wash and wash all my life!

Then there was the story of J.D., a young American
who appeared quite unannounced with a letter of
recommendation from some personality, stating that he
would appreciate it if we could accommodate this deaf-
mute person. I leave it to your imagination what my
first reaction was - which branch would be interested
in a deaf-mute worker? It took some pleading and
persuading to make me receive him on trial, and I didn't regret it. Our glass plant enrolled
him reluctantly, and he turned out to be an outstanding worker, after a while they wouldn't
let him go. In the Haaretz newspaper of July 7 , 1988 you could read the following comment
by Elie Elad: A sample of the beauty of Kibbutz Tsuba is the case of J.D. from the U.S.A. He
happens to be deaf-mute, and for the last year and a half has worked in Quality Control in
the local plant. At the end of that period he went to a conversion Ulpan at Kfar Etzion. Before
leaving he handed a message to the local Newsletter, which read:

To all Tsuba members, Shalom. Lots of thanks to Joel Dorkam who was in charge of Volunteers and
accepted me in spite of my infirmity: Thanks for , allocating me a responsible job at "ORAN" - I truly
loved my work. Thanks for encouraging me to go to an Ulpan. Thanks for letting me share your life
for a while - Tsuba was the only Kibbutz that would take me in at the time.

In "Camphill Correspondence" of May-June 2007 we found the following report by
Sebastian Groh of Mannheim , Germany entitled: "How it is for a young Co-worker at
Camphill":

It is said that people can only cope with a only a short time to get used to the
difficult situation if they see meaning in it. community's way of doing things, the
Meaning nowadays is in workload began to be high, as
short supply. Thus it is an was the level of responsibility,
indescribable feeling for a but it was also very fulfilling.
co-worker to work in We young co-workers needed
Camphill with the belief in to learn to hold back our
doing something which is personal needs from time to
truly meaningful. time because it was sometimes
Having left the Camphill a day and night job.
Community Thornbury in In the course of the Foundation
the UK and thinking back Year which contained subjects
to that time which lies just from Child Protection Issues,
half a year behind me, Syndromes and Polarities to
brings up a whole lot of Biodynamic Farming, for a new
emotions. To start from the co-worker a totally new world
beginning: I decided to do was gradually unfolding itself.
my National Service in England basically in As well as many educational and welfare
order to improve my English. By 'chance' I matters in which a co-worker is involved on a
came to this residential school with no daily basis, you can also get to know an
expectations but with some curiosity. After entirely different philosophical world view,

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