It is 18 months since Hamas brutally murdered my friend Vivian Silver in her home in Kibbutz Be'eri on October 7, 2023.
I travelled to her home last month to pay tribute to her. For over a decade I worked with Vivian where she trained hundreds of South African government and civil society leaders in community development, agricultural development and cooperatives at NISPED and at her beloved Be'eri. As a founder of Women Wage Peace we brought a group of Muslim, Jewish and Christian women to SA in 2019 to engage with government, media and civil society. Vivian's dedication to peace building and human rights saw her driving cancer patients from Gaza to Israeli hospitals.
I brought beaded sunflowers🌻 made by Banks who has been painting and beading yellow ribbons to raise awareness of the hostage crisis on the side of a Street in Johannesburg. Together with my tribute card I lay them at her doorstep of her burned house. Vivian's legacy continues to be felt in Israel, globally and in the tip of Africa. You are missed Vivian Silver.
Wendy Kahn
