50-Years-Magazine-digital

Delivering Excellence for All in Israel 23 From the speech of Dalia Amos at the graduation ceremony, MA in Government and Public Policy, May 2024: " My name is Dalia Amos, I am a resident of Metula and the mother of three children - Omer, Idan and Amit: we have been evacuated from our beloved home for seven months, with no foreseeable prospect of returning to the North. I am the regional manager of the two Hosen (resilience) centers on the northern border for half a million people and I manage a resource center founded by Prof. Mooli Lahad which has specialized in resilience, emergency, and trauma for more than 45 years. When I wanted to study for a Master’s degree, the options available to me were in the center of Israel. As a mother who works full time, it was not realistic and I had to wait. I only had the opportunity to study for a Master’s degree at the age of 46 when the Open University of Israel opened a group for degree studies in Government and Public Policy for Local Government in Yesud HaMa’ala, and there we gathered: students from the Galilee and the Golan – a small group from which each person is doing very well today. Opportunities like this are extremely important for residents of outlying areas – in education, health, the economy, agriculture and culture. Unfortunately, some of them are still not available. On October 7, my personal and professional realities crossed paths, when I had to get my children out of the border area as fast as possible due to the fear of the city being occupied and, at the same time, to operate the emergency system of the Hosen centers in order to help the residents. When I stand here on the stage, I represent not only myself. My voice represents the residents of the North who are now living under fire or those who have been uprooted from their homes. Our roots are there, our hearts remain there while we are physically here looking from afar at our destroyed homes, the burnt fields, the wilting orchards. ”