Skip to content

Where different views on Israel and Judaism are welcome.

  • Home
  • Subscribe / donate
  • Events calendar
  • News
    • Local
    • National
    • Israel
    • World
    • עניין בחדשות
      A roundup of news in Canada and further afield, in Hebrew.
  • Opinion
    • From the JI
    • Op-Ed
  • Arts & Culture
    • Performing Arts
    • Music
    • Books
    • Visual Arts
    • TV & Film
  • Life
    • Celebrating the Holidays
    • Travel
    • The Daily Snooze
      Cartoons by Jacob Samuel
    • Mystery Photo
      Help the JI and JMABC fill in the gaps in our archives.
  • Community Links
    • Organizations, Etc.
    • Other News Sources & Blogs
    • Business Directory
  • FAQ
  • JI Chai Celebration
  • [email protected]! video
Weinberg Residence Spring 2023 box ad

Search

Archives

"The Basketball Game" is a graphic novel adaptation of the award-winning National Film Board of Canada animated short of the same name – intended for audiences aged 12 years and up. It's a poignant tale of the power of community as a means to rise above hatred and bigotry. In the end, as is recognized by the kids playing the basketball game, we're all in this together.

Recent Posts

  • Prevention is ultimate goal
  • Tikva grows even more
  • Talking about antisemitism
  • KDHS chai celebration
  • UBC Chabad celebrates 10th
  • Playfulness & laughter
  • This year’s book award winners
  • Israel’s antiquities trade
  • Tracking earth’s winds
  • About the Summer 2023 cover
  • A foolproof eggplant recipe
  • Recipes for special moments
  • Beauty in indrawn breath
  • Settling Ukrainian newcomers
  • A double anniversary
  • Deep, dangerous bias
  • Honouring others in death
  • Living under fire of missiles
  • Laugh for good causes
  • Sizzlin’ Summer in June
  • Parker Art Salon on display
  • Helping animals and people
  • New LGBTQ+ resource guide
  • Innovators in serving the community
  • First Jewish Prom a success
  • Prince George proclaims Jewish Heritage Month
  • Community milestones … Wasserman & Feldman
  • Düsseldorf returns painting
  • קנדה גדלה במיליון איש
  • Garden welcomes visitors
  • Spotting disinformation
  • A family metaphor
  • Hate crimes down a bit
  • First mikvah in B.C. Interior
  • Check out JQT Artisan Market
  • Yiddish alive and well

Recent Tweets

Tweets by @JewishIndie
photo - Children learn the #iamchild dance routine created by Israeli-Turkish therapist and journalist Michal Bardavid

Dance in support of refugees

0 Flares 0 Flares ×

Children learn the #iamchild dance routine created by Israeli-Turkish therapist and journalist Michal Bardavid. (photo from iamchildproject.com)

There’s a new dance routine on social-media sites that has five catchy poses and one enormously powerful message.

The #iamchild dance-therapy routine is part of a project in support of Syrian children affected by ongoing civil war. It was created by Israeli-Turkish journalist Michal Bardavid to give emotional and moral support to millions of the world’s refugee children.

In addition to being an international correspondent for China Central Television, Bardavid is a psychological counselor and a certified dance therapist. After meeting hundreds of Syrian children in refugee camps on the Turkish-Syrian border, she created a motivational dance exercise made up of five positively worded sentences accompanied by five movements to show the kids that someone cares.

The five phrases – “I am loved,” “I am a child,” “I am safe,” “I am a whole person,” “I am beautiful” – are spoken in Arabic.

“The accompanying movements make the emotion more concrete as children say the sentences out loud,” Bardavid writes about the project.

In honor of United Nations Universal Children’s Day on Nov. 20, a day that promotes “international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children’s welfare,” Bardavid uploaded a call-to-action video – in English and Turkish – asking people to join the movement and show support for the Syrian kids.

So far, she has documented 600 Syrian refugee children and 350 Turkish schoolchildren doing the #iamchild dance routine. Children in Israel, Iraq, Spain, the United Kingdom and Turkey have sent in heartwarming homemade videos of how they perform the dance routine.

“#iamchild is about empowering Syrian refugee children, creating solidarity among Syrian and international children, and increasing global awareness on the issue,” writes Bardavid.

Bardavid wants to reach as many Syrian refugee children as possible via social media and word of mouth. “It’s important to remember Syrian kids are actually the ones most affected by the conflict,” writes Bardavid, noting that she hopes her #iamchild project will “induce a positive emotion even if for a brief moment.”

Israel21C is a nonprofit educational foundation with a mission to focus media and public attention on the 21st-century Israel that exists beyond the conflict. For more, or to donate, visit israel21c.org.

Print/Email
0 Flares Twitter 0 Facebook 0 Google+ 0 0 Flares ×
Posted on November 25, 2016November 23, 2016Author Viva Sarah Press ISRAEL21CCategories WorldTags #iamchild, dance, Israel, refugees, Syria

Post navigation

Previous Previous post: Mystery photo … Nov. 25/16
Next Next post: Mourning Mom and inherited scars
Proudly powered by WordPress