At the end of April, Fellowship Freedom Flights arrived in Israel carrying olim from Colombia and Argentina. Among them was Carlos and his large family from La Plata, Argentina. He, his wife Daniela, their eldest daughter Trinidad, and sons Franco and Leon are now settling into their new home in the southern Israeli city of Be’er Sheva.
The idea of making aliyah actually came from Carlos’ sons, who had gone to Israel and fallen in love with the nation and its people.
Carlos says, “We were active members of the small Jewish community in the city where we lived, and Israel has always been very close to our hearts. Our children also felt that Israel would provide them with more opportunities for the future. We started talking about it as a family, and we realized around 2023 that we also wanted to go with them so that we can start a new life together in the Jewish homeland.”
Family members in Israel from Daniela’s side recommended that they contact The Fellowship for help navigating the aliyah process. Over the past two years, The Fellowship helped the family prepare everything they needed. However, just as they were about to make aliyah, the airport closed due to the war between Israel and Iran. After the ceasefire, and once the airport reopened a month later, they were finally able to reach the Holy Land.
Carlos said, “It was a difficult period because your life is somewhat paused. However, we obviously understood the reasons. It’s just a lot of uncertainty once you’ve stopped working and have temporary accommodation. Fortunately, that is behind us. The Fellowship also helped us a lot during that period, and we felt that we were not alone in our wait. We now feel safe in Israel and are happy to finally be here.”
Carlos and Daniela both worked for the postal service in Argentina and were able to make aliyah through a special employment program. Thanks to the program, Carlos will work at a food processing plant after completing his Hebrew studies. Daniela plans to work with her sister at local kindergartens. Trinidad is also planning to find a job while preparing to attend university.
30-old Franco hopes to join the IDF after learning Hebrew, while his younger brother Leon will complete high school. Leon is also a skilled barber and brought his equipment with him, hoping to one day open his own salon.
Daniela said, “We spent some time in Netanya a few days ago, sightseeing with my sister and brother-in-law. We are already planning the upcoming weekends and feel very moved by the new places that we have seen. The organization of Latin American olim has helped us with some of the paperwork. The Fellowship staff has been in contact with us since the moment that we landed and we know that they will be dropping by for a visit. We were welcomed in Israel with love and are very moved by all the help that we received.”
