Marva
by the Marva guys and gals 07-08
At the moment, the Marva participants are preparing themselves for their final week, where they stay in an Army Base near Jerusalem. For the final week, they explore the Old City in their olive uniforms and M16s, they look at the tensions that surround Jerusalem, and finish with a memorable, magicial ceremony in Sde Boker, the home of the Marva base.
The programme is split into weekly sections. The first two weeks are spent on the base learning the procedures and army discipline. The third and fourth weeks are spent exploring the north and south of Israel, sleeping in tents in a field and living off 'manot krav', which literally means 'war food', and is eaten by Israeli soldiers when in combat. It consists of not much more than meat that looks like dog food and a few boiled sweets...tasty!
The group have just finished the week in which boys and girls are split.
The boys go to a base called Bislach. They are put through their paces as their officers recreate a 'gibbush', the physical test that IDF participants go through to get into the elite units. It involved filling up sandbags and carrying them on shoulders, crawling across a stoney desert floor for 70m, and an activity where you must run up and down a hill carrying huge rocks - if you go too fast, they give you more rocks, if you're too slow you must drop out.
The girls take part in an inspiring week where they are officers for groups of Israeli children. All Israeli children spend a week in the army, called Gadna, and the girls put them through their paces. It is also an incredible time for the girls to bond socially with each other.
Above, you can see Becky, Charlotte and Nay in full uniform!
Naomi doing her monkey impression on the high bars.
The girls in a picturesque pose infront of the Magen David flag.
The Marva participants from Machon. Spot the Hanoar guys by the characteristic scouting pose!
