Changing of the guard at Telfed

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 In the last few of months Telfed has seen a few staff changes including the retirement of veteran staffer Lena Nulman who worked at Telfed for a whopping 24 years. At a party to celebrate her retirement several people spoke of Lena's amazing loyalty and commitment to Telfed and her capacity to always go the extra mile in doing her main job in the last 16 years of administrating the Telfed magazine. 

Other staff changes included the departure of Administrative Assistant Trippi Katz. She spent 2 and a half years at Telfed mainly in the capacity as secretary to Director Sid Shapiro and also as the administrator of the successful PRAS student program which encourages students to give back to the community by helping less fortunate people. Tzippi will be missed by the many students and recipient families that she worked with and we wish her every success for the future.

Michal Merten joined Telfed several months ago and literally "hit the road running" with one of her initial huge tasks of moving Telfed's old contact database to a new and modern platform. The project was achieved on time and to budget which is largely due to Michal's strong background in the world of computers, perseverance and methodical attention to detail. The new database gives Telfed staff a much more efficient platform for managing all their contacts in the Southern African community and an added benefit is projected savings in computer/software maintenance for the organisation. Michal has also taken over administration of the Telfed magazine involving the advertising and production tasks.

 You can read exerpts from Lena Nulman's retirement speech below  :

SAYING FAREWELL TO TELFED – 15.3.2010

THE FAREWELL PARTY, TELFED HELD IN MY HONOUR, ON MARCH 15th 2010, ALSO IN CELEBRATION OF MY 80TH BIRTHDAY, WAS A VERY PRECIOUS MOMENT IN MY LIFE AND I WAS VERY TOUCHED BY THE COMPLEMENTS SHOWERED UPON ME. WHEN I STARTED TO WORK FOR TELFED, NEARLY 24 YEARS AGO, I DID WISH IT TO BE A LONG AND LASTING RELATIONSHIP, BUT I NEVER IMAGINED IT WILL REACH THIS PEAK OF ALMOST 24 YEARS, AND ESPECIALLY ON MY BIG BIRTHDAY! IN MY PREVIOUS EMPLOYMENT, AS PRIVATE SECRETARY TO THE CHAIRMAN OF THE ASHDOD COMPANY, MR. OVED BEN-AMI, I WENT EVEN ONE STEP FURTHER – I COMPLETED A PERIOD OF 26 YEARS! LATELY, AS I WAS GETTING CLOSER TO THIS GOAL, I STARTED TO BELIEVE THAT I WILL ACHIEVE A SIMILAR TARGET ALSO AT TELFED, AND I MAY STILL DO, ONLY PERHAPS ON A VOLUNTARY BASIS. 

A FEW MONTHS AGO I GOT ILL AND WENT THROUGH A VERY DIFFICULT PERIOD, BUT THANKS TO THE SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT I GOT FROM MY DEAR FRIENDS AT TELFED, DIRECTOR AND STAFF, TOGETHER WITH MY LOVING AND SUPPORTIVE FAMILY, FOR WHICH I AM MOST GRATEFUL, I SUCCEEDED TO PULL THROUGH.  TELFED, MY SECOND HOME, WAS THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL AND I MADE EVERY EFFORT TO GET THERE. NOW THAT I DID, I AM READY TO SAY MY FAREWELLS TO TELFED AND TO TELFED MAGAZINE, MY NEST FOR THE PAST 16 YEARS, AND TO PASS THE REINS AND RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE PODUCTION OF ITS "NEW LOOK" COLOURFUL EDITION, TO THE YOUGER GENERATION. I AM NOT SAYING GOOD-BYE, THOUGH, AS I HOPE TO BE AROUND FOR STILL A LONG TIME TO GO.