The Hebrew letters resembled an enormous tangle of incomprehensible vowels and foreign symbols--or so it seemed to David (not his real name), a second-grader in Kiryat Motzkin, Israel. How could he possibly decipher this mysterious language, which, he thought incredulously, was read from right to left? Sadly, he realized that homework was the least of his problems. A recent immigrant from the former Soviet Union, David thought about his Israeli classmates whom he could never understand. Would he ever make any friends?

Rina Kellerman, 16, an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, is determined to help David fit in. As a volunteer for Moadon Kalanit in Kiryat Motzkin, she helps Russian immigrants like David with their homework--and with their new lives as Israeli citizens.

"I think that helping them understand the language, their homework, and how things work really helps, because then they feel like a part of their school," she explains. "It gives them more self-confidence."

But Rina helps with much more than homework. Young immigrants like David are often confronted with problems in their new surroundings--and they confide their troubles to Rina. She recalls the time that a young boy complained that he was always hungry. "It was a bit scary to see a child that young asking for food from someone not related," Rina remembers, but she arranged for his family to receive help.

Herself an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, Rina understands many of the challenges that her students encounter. Although she made aliyah (immigrated to Israel) at age two and adjusted easily, Rina recounts the challenges that her older sister, Mila, experienced.

"When Mila arrived," recalls Rina, "she didn't know Hebrew, and it was hard for her to make friends and fit in." As a third-grader, Mila struggled to adjust to her new life in Israel. But her story offers hope to other immigrants who fear that they will always be outsiders: Today, Mila feels at home in Israel, and currently studies English literature and educational counseling at the University of Haifa.

Rina realizes that the language barrier is only one reason why immigrant children feel alienated. "The immigrants come from a different background," she explains. "And it's hard for some Israeli kids to understand the differences."

But Rina knows that the mix of Israel's diverse immigrant population has much to offer the Jewish state. "This is the country that belongs to us," she declares. "It's ours. We immigrants contribute in all spheres of Israeli life. Thanks to us, the country is able to survive."