NATAN- member profile Nagat Yassin

Who am I? I am an Israeli Palestinian woman , member of a large family with roots centuries' long in the country, the mother of four – my oldest is 20 and my youngest is 10 years old. With a Master's Degree in Social Work, a family therapist and group facilitator by training, I have worked as a freelancer in the fields of welfare, education and health throughout my career.

Joining Natan for voluntary action last year came from my roots – being part of a people for whom refugeeism is central to our narrative. It was not an obvious thing to do: leave everything behind one day to travel to the end of the world, to the middle of nowhere, to accompany refugees in their migration toward Europe.

My presence there for 5 weeks during the past year, affected me in ways difficult to put into words… Suddenly life seems fluid and unclear - a total mess, a lack of understanding of this surreal reality of parenting, of children, of an unfair world and cruel life.

In a parallel process, I saw how strong the value of life can be and how far we are willing to go in order to choose life. When I return home from this journey, I feel blessed with my children, my home and every little thing that I have.

Today, several months after this experience, I find I have an inner strength and another layer that I did not have before. Life is beautiful and we always will continue to be strong for ourselves and for others.