My name is Beilin. I am 12 years old, from Haifa.

I made Aliyah from Ethiopia when I was 1 year old. At first we lived in an absorption center in Haifa, until I was 4.

This is my first year in Ben Yakir. When I got here I was new and I was shy, but slowly I started to adapt. I connected to the activities in the village, like bicycle and drum class.

My group was a lot of fun. I have friends in the group. We had fun with our staff, they played with us a lot, laugh with us.

Throughout the year, the staff put a lot of efforts and organized many activities for the group. I especially remember our BBQ evening. We also had activities with students from Rupin College. We went to see movies at the cinema city. We had a 'fondue' night. We spent an evening at the house of Moshe our counselor. And had Shabbat dinner at Hila, our other counselor's house. It was really fun.

This year I took part in the Bar Mitzvah program in the village. Every Sunday, we'd meet with a counselor that taught us about the Bar Mitzvah, Jewish History, tefillin and more. 

The program included many activities - we took a jeep ride which was really fun. We invited our families for a special Shabbat at the village. My mother came. She already knew the village from previous visits, and also from my stories. It was nice to host her at the village.

We traveled to Jerusalem for a special day. It was great fun to sit with the friends and staff at the restaurant.
 
The Bar Mitzvah party was fun. My parents brought me gifts. And also the village. We blew the shofar. We had great food. I loved the performances, the fireworks, all the hard work and thought that were put into this party. We went up to sing with all the Bar Mitzvah boys. My parents complimented me for this performance, asked me how I knew the words. And how long we have rehearsed for this performance.
After the party, we took a plane for a day in Eilat. When we boarded the plane, my friends were a bit worried from flying. The best part of the day was being hosted in a hotel and spending time at the pool. We were swimming, jumping. We had a lot of fun at the hotel. 

The person that influenced me the most this year is Moshe, my group counselor. I had a lot of fun times with him. He knows to laugh and to make us laugh. He put a lot of time and energy in us, talks to us and educates us.

For next year, I hope that we will have more activities. That we will have fun, laugh and be happy.
I wish to myself that I will enjoy my studies.

To the new kids that will come to the village, I wish that they will adapt quickly, and will not be shy.