About Shaar Haamakim
The name Shaar Haamakim is Hebrew for 'The Gateway to the Valley'. The Kibbutz is situated on the edge of a valley (as the name might suggest) at the edge of the Carmel Mountains and overlooks the Mediterranean sea and the Port of Haifa.
The typical working week for a volunteer runs from Sunday to Friday, with the working day starting at 6 or 7am (you get used to it). Most people finish work by 3pm and the rest of the day is free time. Depending on the time of year that means heading to the Kibbutz pool to relax and swim, walking in the mountains, doing a bit of laundry or having a generous glass of vodka with friends.
Life and Work
Every Kibbutz has it's own industry and Shaar Haamakim is well known in Israel for the Chromagen solar panels manufactured in it's factory. Volunteers aren't generally expected to work here, (it's either because a certain level of skill is required that a new volunteer doesn't possess - or quite possibly because too many hungover and grumpy volunteers have lost the will to live by being housed in a factory for 8 hours a day and its not worth the hassle) although many of the Kibbutzniks make good money from this.
Most volunteers start work in the kitchens - this is a social place to work and a great opportunity to meet people. You might find yourself manning the giant dishwasher, peeling vegetables or cleaning the dining room. Although hard work these jobs can be fun and have the added benefit that they don't require you to have had a full eight hours sleep (you can do them with one eye closed). Everyone gets to wear ex-con style work clothes - make sure you change before you try and hitchhike somewhere.
Peeling onions for two hours a day can be a very emotional task. (From left to right - Phil, Sarah and Dee).
Other work might involve collecting eggs in the chicken sheds, milking cows in the cow sheds, being outdoors picking fruit (mainly avocadoes and oranges) or working in the fields (this requires sleeping in the fields a lot - as normally it is too dry/wet to do any harvesting/planting of crops). There are other more 'glamourous' jobs - you might need to stay for a while to be rewarded with one them. These include running the Kibbutz zoo and being 'volunteer leader' which means you set your own hours, keep the volunteer building clean and manage the volunteer laundry (this involves getting someone with a tractor to deliver everyones clothes to the laundry and pick them up for you later). Ah, the use of tractors...
Dee and Sonia were very responsible with their tractor
If you are given a tractor to drive, please remember these simple rules: 1. Do not drink and drive - you are guaranteed to run someone over or plough a nice old lady's garden. 2. In Israel you must drive on the right. 3. Do not let anyone hot wire your tractor and drive into a water main at 3am - you will be asked to leave the Kibbutz.
Accommodation on the Kibbutz is simple and volunteers share their own buildings. Normally there are two or three people to a room with separate communal bathrooms for the boys and girls.
'Top House' - Home Sweet Home on Shaar Haamakim.
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