IN BRIEF

As Good as It Gets

"I want this to be a place to which I would be proud to send my own grandchildren," was the mandate behind the establishment of a new preschool enrichment center in the Lod Absorption Center. Opened in January for a population of primarily Ethiopian immigrants, the Center provides pedagogic excellence. In addition to the well-equipped and attractive stations – building blocks, library, dolls, music, medicine and arts – the new center incorporates into the curriculum the unique needs of immigrant Ethiopian children.

"One of the things many of these children lack is stimuli - intellectual and material – in their home environment. They have almost no books at home, few toys and their Hebrew language skills are not reinforced after school because their parents speak Amharic. That gives books and story time an added importance at the center," explains Dvora Gini-Malki, Director of Information and Special Projects of the Immgration and Absorption Department . The Center was funded by the UJA-New York Federation, and in a particularly touching initiative, schoolchildren from New York raised $226 from their pocket money to buy books for the new immigrant children. At the opening ceremony, children from the center presented Ilan Halperin, representing the UJA-New York Federation, a bookmark and keychain that they had made together with their teacher, as well as one for each of the children who donated money for books."

"I can fairly say we succeeded in fulfilling our stated goal," says Dvora. "Any parent would be pleased to have their children attend afternoon programming here."

Coming up Roses

Children in the Single Mothers program have fun in the newly furbished playroom.

If it hadn't been for three-year-old Ludmilla, Julietta Radovitzky just may have not gotten out of bed in the morning. An unemployed single-mother, with no familial safety net, Julietta was scraping to buy necessities. As is common in any economic crisis, the weak are the first to suffer and amongst those are often women and children, particularly in single-parent families. When little or no affordable child-care makes holding down a job difficult, even the most employable women can plunge into a cycle of poverty. As everywhere in the Western world, single-parent families are more and more commonplace, and a growing number of Argentinian Jews fit into this category.

Encouraged by a program funded by UJA New York Federation, designed to cater to the needs of single mothers with children, a group of 18 single-parent families recently arrived at the Tiberias Absorption Center. Initial absorption for these women is particularly trying, and the Single Mothers program offers a holistic approach providing child-care, educational, psychological, health, social and cultural services. The mothers, ages 25-50, attend a five month ulpan and employment integration program, subsequent to which additional training or retraining in professions applicable to the Israeli job market will be offered. The children receive additional help in Hebrew by mentors who also act as liaisons to the children's schools and teachers.

Ludmilla is adjusting well, and Julietta is radiant. Already planning on applying for university study, she beams, "Here I have a future. I can smell the roses."