Nehama Rivlin
Nehama RivlinHaim Tzach/ GPO

During Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and his wife Nechama's state visit to Vietnam, Nechama on Wednesday met with a group of leading women in Vietnam who were graduates of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs International Development Program, MASAHV.

In the framework of the project, students from around the world, male and female, are able to take part in a range courses and professional training initiatives in Israel, after which many go on to be leaders in their fields in their home countries.

“I met with leading women in their fields; in education, care provision, environmental protection, gender equality, technology, and communications,” Nechama Rivlin said. “They told me that when they told their families they were traveling to study in Israel, they were told that it was ‘a place of war.’

“They came back and told them about Israel, a land of magic; of scientific revolutions, of culture, of creativity, of love for fellow people, the land of cherry tomatoes!

“People meet each other, and suddenly everything is a lot less threatening, and much more hopeful. Sometimes we can be very self-critical, and in the meeting with the ‘Ambassadors of MASHAV’, I thanked them – I thanked them for the opportunity to be so filled with pride and Israeli hope for what we do as a country, and moreover as humans, for the benefit of people around the world.”