Soni Singer is the director of JAFI's San Diego-IBIM Student Village, situated one and a half miles from the Gaza border. She and her husband live on the outskirts of the village, and have two small children. She recorded this video to explain how her family copes with the frequent warnings about incoming missiles from Gaza.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soni has also been writing about her experiences; here's her entry from January 14:

A UJIA Great Britain solidarity mission came to IBIM yesterday. We owe them so much. With their support our dining room was completely fortified, two bomb shelters were upgraded and our control and command room was established. We are all safer as a result.

It was such a pleasure to host the UJIA mission yesterday. They met with our students and I took them to see what an impact their support has had on IBIM. Because of their foresight, our dining room was fortified. This keeps the students safe and gives them a real sense of security. Our bomb shelters were upgraded, and now we hold classes here so that studies aren't disrupted. And our control and command room is an invaluable addition to the Village's safety.

We also received a wonderful package with gifts and games from children in Even Yehuda, in central Israel. They wanted to show their support and to let our new immigrants know that these children are thinking about them. Our students really appreciated this.

At 5:00 pm I spoke with the UJC and Federation marketing directors to tell them what is actually happening in the field. It was a new experience for me to be part of such a large conference call – there must have been some 40 people on the phone – but I was glad to be able to bring my message to them, so they in turn can share it with the people in their communities. I was also very impressed with the very professional and efficient way the call was run.

Yesterday, I set my alarm for 8:30. But it was not to be. At 8:15 the red alert siren sounded and almost before I could open my eyes my younger daughter, 2, was already running to our protected shelter, her older brother, 4, hot on her tail. My children seem to think this is some sort of game, and I am glad it is so. For them it is a place for the family to be together to play and sing songs. I pray that this war will be over before they are old enough to understand that this is a different game – one of life and death.