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April 28, 2006
Learning life skills in the field
Aharai teaches teens leadership, strength and community service.
GAIL LICHTMAN ISRAEL PRESS SERVICE
For a city like Jerusalem, where some 40 per cent of children live
in families with per capita incomes below the poverty level, it
is imperative to find ways of offering opportunities to teens from
low socioeconomic strata to succeed in Israeli society.
Aharai, a nonprofit organization supported by the Jerusalem Foundation
and Bank Leumi, provides pre-army service programs for youth from
disadvantaged neighborhoods – designed not only to give them
a chance to realize their potential, but also, eventually, to become
leaders in Israeli society.
Taking the rallying cry of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) –
Aharai! (After me!) – whereby military commanders do
not "send" their troops into combat, but rather lead them,
the organization prepares youth between the ages of 15-19 for comprehensive
and substantive army service and young leadership. It does this
by increasing their motivation and readiness for the army and by
encouraging them to volunteer in their own communities. Aharai's
programs, which are heavily subsidized and take only token fees,
focus on education for active citizenship, community involvement,
democracy, tolerance, Zionism and love of Israel.
Founded nine years ago with five groups, Aharai has grown to encompass
75 groups throughout Israel, serving more than 2,000 youngsters.
Its participants (60 per cent boys and 40 per cent girls) come from
all sectors of Israeli society and include new immigrants from Ethiopia
and the former Soviet Union, school dropouts, at-risk youth and
former delinquents, as well as normative teens.
The organization has four basic programs. Aharai IDF works with
high school students during the last year before they enter the
army to enhance their willingness and preparedness, both mentally
and physically, for meaningful military service. The Aharai Patrol
is a preliminary framework for younger teens, exposing them to values
and providing them with scouting experience. The learning centres
work with high school dropouts, or those on the verge of dropping
out, giving them a chance to earn an Israeli high school matriculation
certificate. And in the community service program, high school graduates
postpone their army service to volunteer for one year of community
service in disadvantaged areas.
Aharai has been operating in Jerusalem for the last seven years
and now has three IDF groups with some 90 participants, one patrol
group with 30 participants and a learning centre. Its counsellors
are newly demobilized soldiers from elite units and university students
who, while old enough to serve as role models, are still close enough
in age to the participants that they can relate to one another.
"Military service is a gateway to Israeli society," explained
Yosi Gimmon, deputy director of Aharai. "The teens who come
to Aharai are on the margins of that society. Doing significant
service gives them the chance to start fresh and become part of
the mainstream. It is a key to their succeeding in civilian life
after military discharge and becoming contributing citizens."
But Aharai sees itself as more than just a stepping stone to personal
development. It also aims to educate its participants to take responsibility
for their communities and become leaders. Its programs combine physical
and mental preparation, academic studies and enrichment with community
volunteering and intensive training.
"Aharai's underlying philosophy is that industriousness and
commitment can overcome social and educational obstacles, ultimately
leading to self-esteem and self-confidence," said Ella Mano-Ben
Yoseff of the Jerusalem Foundation. "The programs are not easy
and a lot of hard work is expected. But in the end, they pay off
on the personal, neighborhood and national levels."
Moran Eliyahu is a case in point. Five years ago, in her senior
year in high school, Eliyahu joined Aharai.
"I wanted to go into a combat unit, an area just opening up
to women," she recalled. "The program really helped me
prepare for the army. It gave me a good idea of what I should expect.
Since I knew what I was getting into, I was much better able to
cope with the rigors. This was one of the best periods of my life.
I saw a new way. I realized I could be involved and could make a
difference."
After graduating, Eliyahu postponed her military service for a year
to do community service with Aharai. She went to a poor Beersheva
neighborhood to set up and run an after-school program for children.
"Before we came, the kids would just hang around the streets
and get into trouble," she said. "Their parents could
not afford to pay for clubs. We organized activities and provided
a place where the kids could get help with their homework."
She then went into the army and served in the Nahal combat unit.
After the army, Eliyahu returned to the program as a counsellor.
Today, she is a youth counsellor and the program co-ordinator for
the Galilee town of Hatzor.
"I feel that in Aharai we are giving kids values – teaching
them to care, to give of themselves, to become involved," Eliyahu
observed. "Most of our kids have spent their lives looking
out only for themselves. We teach them to look beyond themselves."
But waiting until one year before military service can sometimes
be too late, so a twice-weekly patrol group was started, aimed at
getting younger teens involved and off the streets before trouble
finds them.
"In the patrol group, our goal is not so much pre-army, although
you cannot divorce this aspect, but more scouting," said Maayan
Tene, a counsellor with the Jerusalem patrol. "We teach the
kids how to survive in nature and navigate in the field, plus we
take them hiking and camping. And we teach them about community
and social involvement."
Tene, who was demobilized less than a year ago from an elite IDF
unit, noted that 85 per cent of the kids in his group would never
have joined another scouting movement, both because they cannot
afford the fees and because they think such movements are for "rich"
kids.
"One of the great things about the patrol, as well as the IDF
program, is that we don't take only at-risk youth," he continued.
"We also have normative, more middle-class kids. The idea is
to integrate and bring the at-risk youth up to normative levels."
Tene bemoaned what he sees as the growing isolation of youth.
"Today, many kids come home from school and just sit around
the house playing computer games or watching TV," he said.
"We get them out of the house, interacting with other kids
and out enjoying and coping with nature. This builds self-confidence.
It's hard to convince kids at first that this is better than sitting
at home with their games, but once they try it, they love it."
Gershon, 15, from Jerusalem's Katamon neighborhood, whose slight
accent is a tip off to his Russian origins, felt he had "too
much free time." So when the Aharai recruiter came to his school,
he signed up. "Now I get to go on these wonderful trips,"
he enthused. "I have learned to navigate in the field and I
feel that I can take care of myself in the wilderness. It's a great
feeling."
Matan, also 15, from Kiryat Hayovel, heard about the program from
a friend. "It helped get me out of the house and stop watching
TV all afternoon," he related. "The trips are physically
demanding. We do a lot of walking and climbing, but I have learned
to survive in the wild and this is a great achievement."
Eliyahu recalled her own days in Aharai: "It was hard,"
she admitted. "We had to toughen ourselves physically, but
we also learned to work as a team. I was one of the organizers of
our national march. We had to march nine kilometres carrying our
buddies on stretchers. As one of the organizers, I was in the lead.
At one point, I turned around and what I saw was amazing –
1,000 teens marching after me. It gave me the greatest feeling of
solidarity, of being part of something marvellous. I just want others
to experience this same feeling."
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