We had a very busy start to our third trip. Jet-lag woke most of us up by four in the morning, so we were ready for our hearty breakfast when 7 AM came around. After we ate, we went to Ben Gurion Park where we met with Meir Chazan. He told us the amazing story about how the dream of Dimona became a reality, and how his family immigrated to Israel when he was only four-years-old. Inspired by Meirr's incredible story, we were ready to get going!

Lathered in sunscreen, we got to it, working the land with our saws, hoes, and pruning shears. We cleared brush and pruned many trees, making sure to drink lots of water in the hot desert sun. The vegetation was a formidable opponent, but by working hard we managed to clear the way to enable the trees to get the maximum amount of water.

One job down, we moved on to our next work site in Dimona. We met with Ayalim, a group of young Israelis who have started communities in the Negev and Galilee areas in order to build up the desert and "make it bloom". We broke up into three groups: two groups worked on painting projects, while the third built a wall out of cement and rocks. We continued working on these projects after a "worker's lunch," and were happy to have some of the local children help us out with our work. With our work completed, we took the short bus ride to the rural Ayalim community to check out the amazing desert view. We then headed back to the hotel, by way of the mall. The desert winds started to pick up, which was quite the change from the stifling heat we experienced earlier on. We got into Drachim Hotel and had the chance to shower and relax a little while.

We played a quick group game before dinner and ended the day with a group discussion, reflecting on our day together. We then celebrated a participant's birthday by singing to her in English and Hebrew before she blew out the candles on her cake. It was then time to part ways for the night to have some fun and get some rest for our next busy day.