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A Farewell Journey from the Davidson Institute #6: A Box of Sweets for Bitter Times

"Do you really think we'll need it?!" On the eve of a work trip to the U.S. in February 2020, Davidson's then-donor relations manager, Shiri, shoved two masks into my suitcase.

"Just in case," she replied. "They say there's a problematic virus going around..."


Less than a month later, the problematic virus became a global pandemic – and we all found ourselves going into lockdowns and operating under various guidelines and restrictions. Zoom was the name of the game. Worrying about the health of family, friends, or employees accompanied every meeting. The Ministry of Health's guidelines became something daily that we followed meticulously. Teams worked around the clock, providing our employees with the equipment they needed to continue working from home, as well as providing everything we could to our different audiences. In general, we knew what to do and how for the simple reason that the Davidson Institute began working in the digital arena a few years earlier, and the experience we accumulated from this was at our disposal in the various contexts required. This is what enabled us, for example, to come up with the "Stuck at Home" initiative in less than two weeks - a site that included science games, riddles, videos, broadcasts from the studio, articles and other various digital learning ideas. Programs that combined physical and digital learning became fully digital, programs that were only physical learned, adapted and developed digital capabilities. Even our international summer camp was adapted and held digitally, an experience that helped us greatly this year as well, in light of the understood reluctance of participants from around the world to reach a war zone. We continued to develop and offer activities of all kinds, and we didn't hesitate to learn lessons and develop professionally from all of this ourselves as well.

The responses to all this activity were very positive, from emails such as "Thanks from Be'er Ora*, I wanted to tell you that yesterday we spent an entire afternoon with you thanks to the activities of Stuck at Home!", to European donors who were enthusiastic whose support enabled the translation of the various activities into Spanish and German so that children in other countries, also in lockdown, can spend their time engaged in science.


But the general mood was low, and it didn't skip us either. We are educators, accustomed to the hustle and bustle of participants, who tell each other about what is happening in the programs, send mutual pictures of activity, reactions, action. In normal times, Davidson is a buzzy hive, bursting with action. We continued to work tirelessly, but like everyone else – most of us found ourselves working from home, in front of people on screen. Davidson corridors and spaces were almost deserted and quiet. The remoteness was heavy, the silence was depressing. What can we share now, pictures of screens with zoom windows? It felt like some oxygen was missing. I remembered something my grandmother used to say: "Bad news always arrives. It's the good news that we are less used to telling. So tell them." Along with the sickness, worry and uncertainty that we all experienced, it was important to create some kind of organizational platform of encouragement where we would make sure to tell each other good things that were going on.

I asked each of the Davidson directors to send me a short paragraph with spirit-lifting information from the activities that were going on, and if they had any accompanying pictures – even better. I gathered the information they sent in an email, titled "Davidsons Sweets." I explained that it was important that we keep each other updated on the good things happening in the organization, "sweet little candles in the fog," and asked that any such updates be sent to me. I promised that I would make sure to continue to gather and send them to everyone.

The first "Sweets" were sent out on March 18, 2020, and responses came immediately. Davidson employees were delighted with the information, support and sharing; And they enthusiastically volunteered to send their unique "sweets" to share with everyone. For more than a year, I sent these "sweets" to all Davidson employees, at least once a week. Davidson board members and other partners also requested and received samples of our sweets. 

Later on, we also opened an organizational WhatsApp group (which we announced, of course, as part of one of the sweets...). It's funny to think about it today, when something like such a group seems obvious to us, but more than four years ago it was a relatively new idea, which raised questions and wonders. After a short discussion, the group was opened and became active, efficient and helpful.


As the lockdowns ended and we started getting back to normal, I stopped sending the sweets. I thought they had fulfilled their purpose.

Turned out I was mistaken. A few weeks after the last "Davidson Sweets" was sent, several employees approached me and asked me to continue. "These sweets always make us happy. You don't have to send one every week, but why send them only during Covid?"

Indeed, why?

I started over.

The last "sweet" was emailed a month and a half ago, and the next one in line is ready to be sent very soon. While I admit it's a nice update platform, I believe that more than anything else - the "Sweets" played a role in strengthening our organizational resilience during a global crisis.

And to those who occasionally tell me that they have adopted the idea in other contexts as well, I answer with a quote from my grandmother: "Good news should be told."

  

  • Be'er Ora - A town in the far-south of Israel, near the city of Eilat.


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