PLASAN EXPERIENCES
Dr. EDNA ANGELICA CALÒ Livné

It was as if suddenly the family had expanded, and there were lots of fathers, lots of mothers, grandparents, children. It was as if the babies that were born during those days were the babies of all of us. As if the Kiddush on Friday night and the breaking of the bread had always been part of our lives.

We spent twenty-seven days together, while the hardest war of the state of Israel raged next to our home. We spent time together with all our will to give, to give everything in our power so the children would not be afraid, so that life would seem as normal as possible!

When Nitzah Naveh and Amnon Danzig asked me to take part in the special project “Plassan Workers on the Sea of Galilee ”, I couldn't imagine what it was about, what was being asked of me, how I could help. The instructions were clear: “It is important to us that the plant continue to function despite the distressing circumstances. The people who work in ‘Plassan' are dear to us; from this point wrap them in love, make them feel at home, be father and mother to them, help them with their every request. Everything is being taken away from us in this war: home, freedom, quiet. Your purpose is to give them whatever their hearts desire. Don't hesitate to ask, we will help with every initiative and every idea.”

Day after day I felt how the task was made for me – how every smile, every child's hug, every ordinary conversation, every hand placed on a head, fill me with strength – and how those around us, from the quietest child to the entertainment crew of the villages that hosted us, are filled with energy. Every Friday the members of Sasa arrived with their children, and told us about the hallowed wonders of Yakum, Nahshon, Tzova and Mishmar Haemek. It was possible to truly feel the saying, “All Israel is responsible each for the others”. We wept together in front of the television, and we wept together when the members of the “Gayah” group sang “Together we'll open heart to heart, we'll see the light in the sky….” We were excited to hear one festive evening that one of the plant's most important projects had reached a successful conclusion. We went out on pedal-boats with adolescent young people who displayed all the values they had received from their parents about welcoming and caring for young children. And when the babies of our gang in Deganya, Ein Gev and Ma'agan were born in Poriyyah Hospital it was as if rays of light bathed us all.

Day after day deep relationships of friendship grew between people, and a pleasant atmosphere was created in spite of the homesickness, in spite of the fact that this was in the last analysis a vacation that had been forced on each one of us. The people felt that they were part of a strong and loving family.

It was a hard, frightening war that threatened the lives of all of us. And the entire Sasa family proved once again, and with full force, that what is strong with us is the heart, a great heart and soul.

May we continue to be blessed with all this goodness and to be filled with strength from the happiness we give to those around us.