The third year in Jerusalem: how the Petersburger launched a project in Israel to adapt adolescents and what has changed in the city because of the war

For many years, “Paper” published the stories of foreigners in St. Petersburg. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, many Petersburgers became expansion to Ukraine. In this section, we talk with them about the new cultural experience, emigration lessons and longing for St. Petersburg.

In St. Petersburg, Nastya Ryabtseva worked in charity - helped people with mental characteristics and families in crisis situations. Shortly before the start of a full -scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, she and her family moved to Jerusalem, where she launched her initiative to help adolescents.

In an interview with “Paper”, Nastya told how she develops a project to adapt adolescents in new countries and how war affects her life in Israel.

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• Genus: creator of the social project to support teenagers The Walks and writer
• Age: 36 years
• Not in Russia: two years and 10 months

- In Russia, I worked in advertising, but stopped seeing the meaning in it and came into the social sphere. She worked for non -profit organizations “ Simple things ” and “ Warm House ” and was a social journalist. Basically, I came up with how to draw attention to social projects, and looked for money for charitable organizations. And still developed special projects that attracted attention to funds.

We lived with my husband for nine years and in January 2021 we decided to go to Israel, where he was born. In addition to the general political situation in Russia, Coronavirus influenced us: the husband did not see the family for two years, and his parents did not meet with our only born daughter.

Upon departure, we thought that we would periodically visit both Russia and Israel. We did not assume that such a tragic story would arise (a full -scale Russian invasion of Ukraine - approx. “Papers” ).

In Israel, together with Nastya Ivanova, I launched “wild walks” - a project that helps adolescents adapt to life in a new country with the help of common walks, creativity and acquaintance with each other.

When creating, we were inspired by the Petersburg project “All Affairs” (art practitioner for children in the open air). Later we had to rename the initiative, because earlier we were helped by another project with the word “wild” in the name. Now it's just The Walks.

Now the project works in three cities of Israel: Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa. The Walks is growing: he appeared in Barcelona, ​​Paris and New York. We train employees and rebuild from a small initiative to a social project, in which there is an exact technique and understanding what we do - we expand and build a sustainable NGO.

Since we are people with emigrant experience, we work for children from the countries of the former CIS, including Russia and Ukraine.

Who and what played an important role for you?

-At first after the arrival, I met a lot of people who were ready to discover something about the reality of Jerusalem. Plus, my husband has a family here. They also very much influenced the perception of the city, because for them this place in which they have been living for many years.

What did Israel teach you?

- Jerusalem now and some time ago are different things, because we live in the country in the open phase of the war. And this, in addition to the general tense political situation, changes the atmosphere in the place in which you live.

The Jerusalem I came to is a strange small place in which you can find about everything in the most unexpected combinations. You can walk along the street and hear how a person prays, while in some window someone plays on the violin on top, and the loader unloads a trolley with oranges, terribly cursing with the buyer.

I want Israel to be a country for different people, and a mixture of cultures remains in it. I believe that it is possible here. I wish the entire nearest East of the end of the endless war.

Three finds in Israel

• The antiquity of the city. He always destroyed and rebuilt, and, oddly enough, there is hope in all this. This place teaches a philosophical view of life, because 3 thousand years ago someone also went here and did something under the same sky.
• Acceptance of otherness . The feeling that if you are strange, this does not mean that you are a marginal. This is the boundary between marginality and foolishness. For example, in St. Petersburg, a person who speaks on the street with pigeons will be bypassed. In Jerusalem, it seems to me, everyone will think that he knows what we do not know.
• Social proximity . This is both a good and bad side. In Israel, you can always get to a person quickly due to small distances. On the one hand, this very simplifies the work, and on the other, it is unbearable that everyone knows about everyone.

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