|
|
May 2, 2003
Helping the next generation
Organization celebrates 70 years of rescuing Jewish children-at-risk
SIMON GRIVER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
From Ethiopia to the former Soviet Union, Israel's Youth Aliyah
continues to rescue Jewish children-at-risk. However, this child
and youth rescue operation, which is currently celebrating its 70th
anniversary and has saved more than 300,000 children worldwide,
also plays a major role in educating disadvantaged Israelis, whose
parents and grandparents were never properly integrated into Israeli
society.
"The children in Youth Aliyah villages today are more problematic
than ever before," explained Eli Amir, director-general of
the Jewish Agency's Youth Aliyah institutions. "With gaps between
rich and poor in Israel wider than ever, they are more alienated
and at greater risk from the country's rising levels of crime, violence
and drug addiction."
Established in 1933 by teacher and pianist Recha Freier in Germany,
Youth Aliyah initially rescued thousands of children from Nazi Germany.
It was later adopted by Hadassah founder and pre-state leader Henrietta
Szold and became a Jewish Agency department. Over the years, the
organization brought children to Israel from the Middle East and
North Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Soviet
Union and, most recently, Ethiopia and the Russian-speaking republics.
Since the 1980s, Youth Aliyah has also been taking in Israeli-born
children from severely dysfunctional families.
"To meet today's greater challenges, we have introduced more
informal education through individual and group therapy, which enables
students to express their hopes and fears, anger and frustration,"
explained Amir, who himself was educated at Youth Aliyah villages
after reaching Israel from Iraq more than 50 years ago.
Youth Aliyah's traditional recipe has been to combine unique educational
and remedial programs with warm residential care. No class has more
than 20 students. Added to this are extra-curricular activities
in the arts, sports and computers to enhance concentration and basic
skills of literacy and numeracy, while therapy and counselling improve
the child's self-esteem, nurture social skills and the ability to
articulate feelings.
At remedial residential villages like Ramat Hadassah Szold near
Haifa and Kiryat Yearim near Jerusalem, the pet therapy program
typifies the success of Youth Aliyah's innovative informal methods.
For example, when Dima first came to Ramat Hadassah Szold, he would
walk around with slouched shoulders looking depressed. His posture
changed for the better after he "adopted" a parrot within
the framework of the personal pets program.
"We told him a half truth," confessed Daniel Zelanko,
director of the newly opened Animal Education and Therapy Zoological
Centre at Ramat Hadassah Szold. "We told him that parrots don't
like slouched shoulders and that his pet would be much happier if
he stood more upright. In fact all birds do prefer to perch on something
strong and stable. I'm not a parrot but if I were, I don't think
I'd want to perch on slouched shoulders."
Dima, 15, came to Ramat Hadassah Szold four years ago, having difficulty
living at home and fitting into the local school framework. The
only child of a new immigrant divorcée from the former Soviet
Union, his academically educated mother was disappointed with her
son's poor scholastic performance.
Away from his mother's discouraging influence, Dima quickly flourished.
After three years in the school's remedial junior high program he
had not only caught up academically, he was even showing an above-average
scholastic performance. Emotionally, the pets program and the relationship
he developed with his parrot enabled him to show his affections
rather than hide them, as well as to develop a sense of responsibility.
Acceptance is the key
Among the graduates of Youth Aliyah is President Moshe Katzav, who
studied at the Ben Shemen village. But, though countless captains
of industry, senior army officers and college professors are graduates
of Youth Aliyah, Rafi Talby, principle of Hadassah Neurim, a Youth
Aliyah residential high school near Netanya, explained that today's
yardstick for success is more modest.
"Our first measure of success is for our graduates to be accepted
by the army," he stressed. "Rejection by the army because
of behavioral or psychological problems will leave a teenager with
a stigma for life."
Yossi Krothamer, director of the Ben Yakir village near Hadera,
echoes these sentiments: "Success for us is a graduate who
will hold down a steady job and will one day get married and have
children and not abuse or neglect them. Many of our children have
been the subject of abuse and neglect. We help them break out of
that vicious circle."
Two Youth Aliyah graduates who have broken out of that vicious circle
are Natalie Altit and Amos David. Altit, 27, who studied at Kiryat
Yearim from 1998 until 1990, still lives in her native Beer Sheva
where she has her own fashion store and was recently married.
"I owe everything I have achieved to Kiryat Yearim," she
said. "For the first time in my life, I was able to understand
the positive side of studying and life in general. The staff's love
and understanding changed my behavior."
David, 39, studied at Hadassah Neurim from 1978 until 1981. Today,
he is a senior manager at the Angel Bakery in Jerusalem and is married
with three children.
"Before Youth Aliyah I was getting into trouble and leading
others into trouble too," he recalled. "At Hadassah Neurim
I learned to become more independent and cope with difficult problems.
Most importantly, my behavior improved and I influenced others to
do positive rather than bad things."
A unique desert village
Today there are more than 10,000 students in more than 60 residential
schools, day centres and kibbutz schools funded by Youth Aliyah.
Most of the budget is now provided by the Ministry of Education,
though the Jewish Agency and a worldwide network of Youth Aliyah
committees, including Hadassah, still contribute generously to the
organization.
The pioneering spirit that has always characterized Youth Aliyah
remains alive in all the villages but none more so than at Nitzana
on the Israel-Egypt border in the heart of the Negev. The newest
of Youth Aliyah's villages, established in 1987, Nitzana is a unique
environmental and educational phenomenon.
"We teach about the desert and the sun and offer unique programs
in such areas as science and sport, which take advantage of the
region's wide open spaces," explained David Palmach, director
of Nitzana. "We are also an ecological village, which strives
for self sufficiency in energy by using solar energy and water by
recycling waste water."
In addition to programs for Russian-speaking and Ethiopian new immigrants,
Nitzana offers science and sports programs to high school students
throughout the country.
With recent statistics from Israel's National Council for the Child
showing that 26.9 per cent of children in Israel – 588,000
in total – now live below the poverty line, clearly Youth Aliyah
has much more work to do. This is a 300 per cent increase in absolute
numbers since 1980. And these figures relate to 2001, before Israel's
economic crisis began to deepen.
"A direct result of this recession is the worsening situation
of the children living in Youth Aliyah's residential villages,"
said Amir. "All aspects of their situation – scholastic,
social, behavioral and family – are at risk, while their families
are exposed to increased economic hardship. The situation requires
greater investment on our part to ensure the children receive the
extra support and enrichment needed for their future development."
Simon Griver is a writer with Israel Press Service.
^TOP
|
|
