Noa, 24, bulimic for 5 years, participant of Project 2020 “The key to your prison is with you,” I say, “You just need to find it. To release the obsession, to silence the voices…” “I know,” says Noa, and I feel that she truly understands this.” Update sent to crowdfunding supporters, 21.04.2012: My first meeting yesterday in Haifa was with Noa, a 24-year-old who has been suffering from bulimia and underweight for six years. She still lives with her parents. Noa’s parents surround her with love and concern, sometimes a bit too much. There is nothing in Noa’s refrigerator at home. The food is kept in a locked pantry. We sit in her room, the same room she grew up in, the room she wants to leave to live the normal life of a 24-year-old woman. At the beginning of our meeting, I give her my story to read, two pages I wrote a few months ago that briefly describe 16 years of daily suffering alongside the illness and my way out. “It feels like I wrote this,” she says, the same sentence Tamar Brauner, the first participant in the project, said to me after reading them. I pull out some pictures from my bag. “This is my family,” I say, showing her my loved ones and children, showing her what my life looks like today, eight years later. She starts talking, describing how and what brought her to this state, describing the uncontrollable addiction to the frightening ritual of bulimia that was a part of my life for so many years. “The key to your prison is with you,” I say, “You just need to find it. To release the obsession, to silence the voices…” “I know,” says Noa, and I feel that she truly understands this. Noa has many plans for her life. I give her the project questionnaire, which she will return soon, where I ask her to describe how and where she will be in eight years from now, at age 31. We part with a hug, not before she gives me a colorful and crazy manga sticker she made by hand. Noa is very excited and wants to see her painting already. So do I. On the way back to Ramat Gan, I turn on the radio—50 years of the Beatles. The song playing in the background suddenly seems very fitting.” “LET IT BE”The Beatles (Lennon/McCartney) When I find myself in times of troubleMother Mary comes to meSpeaking words of wisdom, let it beAnd in my hour of darknessShe is standing right in front of meSpeaking words of wisdom, let it beLet it be, let it beLet it be, let it beWhisper words of wisdom, let it beAnd when the broken-hearted peopleLiving in the world agreeThere will be an answer, let it beFor though they may be partedThere is still a chance that they will seeThere will be an answer, let it beLet it be, let it beLet it be, let it be Yeah, there will be an answer, let it beLet it be, let it beLet it be, let it beWhisper words of wisdom, let it beLet it be, let it beAh, let it be, yeah, let it beWhisper words of wisdom, let it beAnd when the night is cloudyThere is still a light that shines on meShine on until tomorrow, let it beI wake up to the sound of musicMother Mary comes to meSpeaking words of wisdom, let it be
