I think a general challenge for me in all this work is realizing that things are possible, because I am very skeptical [....] Gradually, I have come to understand that it is not a matter of skepticism but rather believing that things can take place [....] This is YIFC's vision, generally speaking, and it applies to my work as well. I really appreciate the people who are active in YIFC. What has always amazed me is the fact that they aren't checking to see what the next step should be, rather they are thinking about the next five or ten steps and about getting there. I wasn't even capable of thinking ten steps were possible. This is not a minor challenge.
Michal Eskenazi
17
Vision
What challenges does this work pose?
My initial challenge - which I overcame—was to create a system for our work. At YIFC a person is responsible for their project from start to finish, in terms of logistics, fundraising, summarizing, and it was really difficult to connect individual work to connect to the others' but it was really important; the organization operates differently now. Currently, the challenge is how to make time when there is none. We want to increase the number of volunteers. The question is how to integrate people, because to do that you need people to supervise their work. We are all volunteers, so there is a limited amount of human resources. In terms of [organizing] conferences, the challenges are endless. There are the technical challenges of the budget and all kinds of things, as well as the question of how to promote ourselves. There are questions too, such as what do we want to happen at the conference? What do you want? What are the concerns? How do we ensure we work well with the other side and refrain from hurting people from the other side? I think a general challenge for me in all this work is realizing that things are possible, because I am very skeptical. It might not sound like I am, but I tend to complain and be skeptical. I overcame my cynicism, but that was part of it, too. Gradually, I have come to understand that it is not a matter of skepticism but rather believing that things can take place, and looking up a bit. If you do, you can walk in the [right] direction, but staying skeptical won't lead me anywhere. This is YIFC's vision, generally speaking, and it applies to my work as well. I really appreciate the people who are active in YIFC. What has always amazed me is the fact that they aren't checking to see what the next step should be, rather they are thinking about the next five or ten steps and about getting there. I wasn't even capable of thinking ten steps were possible. This is not a minor challenge.