Carnival calling for our youth leaders
A group of excited youth leaders are in Melbourne at the moment, volunteering as youth leaders for the 29th Maccabi Australia Junior Carnival.
How many readers fondly remember their carnival experience?
Most Maccabi participants would have enjoyed some sort of taste of a Junior Carnival at some stage – and these budding young leaders want to go to Melbourne to make sure that this generation of teenage Maccabi participants also get bitten by the carnival bug.
“(I want to show) the kids what a great experience carnival can be and get them to enjoy it as much as I did when I participated in the carnivals,” 18-year-old youth leader Romi Savitz told Maccabi News.
And Romi should know, having enjoyed the full spectre of carnivals from Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
But as everyone points out, the carnival sport program is merely the forum; the bigger picture is the week that Jewish youngsters get to know each other, all in a Maccabi atmosphere.
“I loved both the sports during the day and the socialising at night time,” Romi adds. “It was great to meet other kids from all over Australia – some of which I still keep in contact with”.
Rebecca Small, 18, agrees. “When you’re not competing in sports, you get to go out and have fun. You get to bond and mix with others,” she says.
Indeed, the meeting and greeting doesn’t end with the participants!
“(I’m looking forward to) the social aspects for youth leaders and meeting all the people from interstate. For us it’s exciting as well because we get to meet new people.”
And to prove that opportunities at Maccabi never end, Steven Baskin is going down to Melbourne for his very first taste of carnival.
“I am very excited to see it in action,” he enthused. “After hearing all the stories from friends that have gone, I can’t wait to experience it for myself.”
It’s an opportunity to inspire, lead and not only get something out of it for yourself, but to encourage the participants. And they know it.
“I think going to the sign-ons has been good – you get to meet some of the kids before carnival. They can see that we can be fun as well- not just going to boss them around,” Rebecca adds.
And for Steven, he simply cannot wait.
“It’s great to see how such a range of people can come together to organise such an amazing event. After hearing about the carnival in our group building and organisation session in Melbourne, I can tell this carnival is going to be something I will never forget.”
