These days, the Village Way focuses intently on strengthening and empowering the educational leadership and staff from Israel’s battered north and south. In special seminars and forums, we create safe spaces for them: a physical and emotional haven where they can let go of their stress and fear of the unknown, recharge emotionally, and regain their ability to deal with reality.
Divided into sharing circles, the educators sit out on the lawn — or indoors, if the weather is too extremely hot. Each participant speaks in turn, unpacking their struggles and worries, while the others lend their supportive ears and hearts. The Village Way facilitator gracefully weaves the stories that are shared into an invisible safety net, a place where each group member’s vulnerabilities will be acknowledged and met with sensitivity, skill, and care.
These gatherings speak of mutual empowerment, but the real power lies in the realization that educators are all links in an eternal chain: a strong, golden chain that has always linked one generation to the next, transporting ancient wisdom and hard-earned lessons on to the future. In the sharing circles, a new chain is revealed, one that is intangible yet incredibly robust — the bond that is formed between today’s educators under the umbrella of the Village Way.
