Tel Aviv University International students volunteering and support group

This initiative was the most supported, and we believe so since for this is a more-than-rare opportunity for the ones who don't have an easy time to go to the desert on their own. Plus, if the group is big and lively enough, it's a lot of fun!  This is technically the most challenging trip to organize, mostly because we will go to a wild place, with quite hostile environmental conditions, and more than 40 people expressed interest in this adventure. Probably we will be a little less, 20 to 30 people. First of all, don't worry too much about the "risks". If we stay together and we are well organized, we will avoid most of the troubles, while breathing some thrill. But it is important to stress since now that each one will carry their own responsibilities and will take care of their lives and wellbeing, since it is a "group of friends" trip and not a professional, organized, guided one. FOR THE LAST MINUTE ADDITIONS (people or things): speak immediately a...

 A while ago, during those terrible days of the Iran-Israel conflict, some of us had very unpleasant experiences when it came to enter the shelters.  "Unpleasant" is actually an euphemism, because  in reality, their lives were at risks. Back then, in the midst of the storm, we sent to the Lowy International School representative this email ( LINK ), a call for action and support given the confusing, scary, difficult times. At first, we had the quick answer of Meshi (TAU Researcher coordinator)  Dear Valentina & Bhavana, Thanks for arising this important matter. The issue is known and has already been addressed. If something like this happens in the future, please let us know immediately, including clear details (such as the relevant apartment number). Wishing us quite days soon, Best, And now, a while later, we got the answer from Maureen, the director of the TAU Lowy International school, which we publish here for transparency and for informing all of you on how...

 A few weeks ago, after the tremendously scary experience of the Iranian - Israel, the second semester of TAU has finished earlier than expected, officially putting the university in "vacation mode". It's not a big change for us scholars, because we live our academic life regardless of the exams and the lessons. Nevertheless, the end of the semester means one thing for us: the organized social activities will probably decrease till the start of the next semester, where clubs, trips, social gatherings etc will flourish again.  Additionally, we haven't heard of big deals planned for the next months and in August the university staff will go on vacation. This doesn't mean that we should wait passively for the next events, especially because we don't know how long it will take and the summer period is an amazing occasion to enjoy the sun and the fresh air, get out from the lab/office every once in a while and chill out with the peers.  We felt that the we should g...

 Dear all, in these hard and stressful days where Israel has started another war, we found ourselves stuck into a nightmare for the whole weekend. First of all, we (Valentina and Bhavana) want to wish you peace, safety and love around you, even if it is difficult. IMPORTANT NOTICE : on 15.06 the Israeli government extended the nationwide state of emergency till June the 30th (see the Times of Israel News ). We need to take into account that the situation is very fluid, so what we wrote here can change or outdated in any moment , but for now we want to share with you what we know so far, provided that we strongly recommend to follow the Home Front Command, the NEWS and the UPDATES from Orr Abergel, the Int. school community team coordinator and the one who sends updates in the TAU int. WhatsApp community run by the Int. school. On the 14.06 we had a meeting with Orr and the other team members of the Lowy Int. School, and some of us were attending.  Here below, we provide a summ...

 Dear all, in these months there is a disturbing issue in our community: the timings and the procedures for renewing the visa, a vital element in our lives in Israel. The good news is that we did not forget about you, and we are aware of the discomfort, the frustration and the shocking experiences that many of us are encountering and sharing, especially after the last update from the Visa office. As of now, one should send their visa application 3 months in advance! This means, other than the ridiculous waiting time, that the new visa will be activated by the day of the payment of the fees, which inevitably will happen before the natural end of the previous visa. Consequently, the next visa will probably be shortened, and again the next renewal will happen three months in advance.  Other than that, it is not clear how the things are handled in between the Visa office and the Ministry of Interior, and there is disappointment also from our side: we fought all of this time to get...