EarthDiverse

Shalom! שלום ! My name is Ifat Vayner-Itzkovitch, and I have been living in New Zealand for the past few years. I’m a Puppeteer and a Hebrew teacher, a mother of two amazing kids: Hadas and Tal and a wife to Gilad. Born and raised in Israel, I completed my B.A. in the Department of Theatre and Literature at Tel-Aviv University and graduated from the “Holon Puppet Theatre School” as a master puppeteer and also completed the training program ‘Puppet Theater as a Therapeutic Tool’. I worked as a puppeteer at the “Holon Puppetry Center”, gave tours of the Puppet Theater Museum of Art and taught adult puppetry courses at the Puppet Theater Art School. I taught puppet theater at Alona Elementary School in Amikam for four years for ages 7-12 and also taught groups and individuals, children, and adults, in various activities through puppet theater in informal or therapeutic settings. For the past two years I have been teaching Hebrew on-line with IVRIE-LI Language School and meeting people from all over the world that are interested in keeping Hebrew alive. I really like to teach and share my knowledge, travel the world, and play with puppets to create communication, touch emotions, and create humor and laughter together with my students. My favourite word in Hebrew is אהבה (love). Let’s find out what your favourite word is!

Nona Morris, MA, is a researcher and diversity educator for EarthDiverse. She has undergraduate degrees in Human Biology and Anthropology, and post-graduate degrees (MA) in Anthropology and Education. She has worked in the field of education for the last 30 years, working across all sectors from early childhood through university and adult mentoring, and has taught in a variety of fields including biology, ecology, social science, research methodology, and learning and assessment practice. She also teaches in the early childhood and primary school sectors. Prior to moving to New Zealand, Nona has lived, studied and worked in Kenya, Tanzania, Liberia, Pakistan, Nepal and the USA. She has experience in cross-cultural communication, facilitation, experiential education, service-based learning, and curriculum design and implementation. Her passion for social and environmental justice and for working with youth has led to her involvement with various local community groups, including NZ Scouts, school parent groups, Playcentre, ethnic and arts groups, and ecological restoration projects. Nona comes from and lives in a multicultural family, is married, and is a mum to two talented Wellington-based university-aged sons. Nona currently runs our Teacher Training Professional Development programme in tandem with Amondi Ouko-Mowbray, and is a key member of our management team.