We plan to inaugurate the Waldorf Kindergarten in Shfaram towards the end of 2004. The Kindergarten in our plan will gradually grow and lead in two to three years to the establishment of the first elementary Waldorf School in the Arab community of Israel. The Kindergarten will offer itself to families of the three religious groups of Shfaram - Moslems, Christians and Druze.
The Kindergarten team and its preparation
The Kindergarten teachers, all from the Arab community have also been identified and they fully participate in the preparatory phase:
Georgina Shiti: a professional Christian-Arab kindergarten teacher from Shfaram, who is also a second year student at our the Teachers Seminar in Harduf.
Amina Sawayed: a kindergarten teacher who has completed a three year Waldorf training.
and her brother
Aimaan Sawayed: a social worker who has many years of experience working with young children in the boarding community of Tuvia at Kibbutz Harduf.
Amina and Aimaan live in the nearby Bedouin village Sawayed Chumeira.
Stefanie Allon, an experienced Waldorf Kindergarten teacher, has undertaken the task of preparing and consulting the team and accompanying the kindergarten in its first years.
The team meets regularly with Stefanie Allon and they all observe and gain experience in the existing Hebrew speaking Waldorf kindergartens in the area. In addition they began preparing teaching materials such as songs and stories of the Arab tradition and they participate in meetings with groups of potential Arab parents.
Location
After looking at several locations for the Kindergarten we chose
a place which is in its final stage of construction on one of the high spots of Shfaram overlooking the ancient town center and with great open vistas all the way west to the Mediterranean Sea. It has a very attractive main hall and it opens to a large garden area. We now enter the final stage of painting, decorating, furnishing, landscaping and gardening.
Landscaping and gardening
There is a rather big outdoor space near the house which at present is in a bad shape, covered with construction wastes and it will require a costly landscaping and gardening. A plan for the outdoors has been prepared by Axel Ewald a member of Kibbutz Harduf. We are now seeking funds for its implementation.
Getting the authorities on board - Establishing connections with the Municipality
In October 2003 we met with the Mayor of Shfaram and the person in charge of education . They both gave their blessing to the project and offered to help in many different ways.
Friends of the initiative - Establishing a support group for the Kindergarten.
We have identified a group of people, both Jews and Arabs who wish to act as a support group for the Kindergarten. The first meeting of the group is scheduled for early January 2004.
Reaching out to the community - Meetings with parents and other 
individuals interested in the initiative
We had several open house meeting with dozens of interested individuals in Shfaram. Some of these have children in Kindergarten age. Stefanie Allon and others in the team attended these meetings and presented the Waldorf approach to education and answered the many questions asked about practical as well as more theoretical topics including the future possibility of establishing a school as well. There was a feeling of great enthusiasm and support from these parents, who are desperately looking for an alternative system of education to the one existing in their communities.
In one of these meetings with parents and staff the name "Olive Tree" came up and later chosen as the name for the new kindergarten. We then realised that the web site had a precognition of it by choosing a dove with an olive tree branch at the head of its home page.
Following these preparatory process, 20 families and their children were interviewed (Feb 2004) and there is a growing feeling among the staff that the most critical and decisive phase in the establishment of the kindergarten has now been completed.
Funding
The project is directed at a relatively poor community, unaccustomed to spending money on education. In order to be able to maintain the professional support and to renovate the building and purchase the necessary equipment we'll need additional funding. Until now we have received mainly small donations from individuals and larger sum from the Münster Waldorf School in Germany. But now we need to broaden the circle of donors.
Learn how you could support the initiative
For further information about the Kindergarten you can contact Stefanie Allon by email giallon@bezeqint.net , or by phone 04-983-2067.
Stefanie speaks Hebrew, German, English and French.
