Kibbutz Blisters

In 1974 I gave up work as a midwife in the Spanish city of Barcelona. I had always promised myself that when I reached a personal goal of 1,000 babies delivered I would lay down my scrubs for the last time and head out into the world to volunteer in a new and different way.

I have always wanted to give back to the world in thanks for the joy that is has given me. Volunteering has been my way of doing that.

At first it was hard to decide where to go and what to do. However, a good friend of mine had recently returned from a holiday in Israel and suggested that I try working on a kibbutz. The next morning I booked my flights and headed off for the adventure of a lifetime.

I arrived with no idea of what I was going to do. Fortunately, I met a number of other women who had been traveling the region for some time and they pointed me in the direction of a kibbutz in the small town of Kyrat Shimona in northern Israel along the border with southern Lebanon.

When I arrived in what was then something of an outpost I discovered the most welcoming kibbutz leader – John Cohen. He showed me around his avocado plantation at the heart of the kibbutz and I knew, almost at once, that I was destined to volunteer here for the rest of my life.

It has now been over 30 years and I am still picking avocadoes for ten to twelve hours a day, six days a week. What started as blisters have now become integral to my hands. I have become almost one with the earth itself. Volunteering in this way has unleashed a true anchor in my soul and I can’t imagine my life being grounded in any other way. This has been time well spent.