We no longer need speculate about the "day after" the Second Lebanon War - it has arrived. The damages in the North are still vast and widespread. The challenges before the people of Israel are unprecedented. Now, time is our greatest enemy.
As we have so many times in our people’s history, we once again stand at a seminal moment. A moment where we have the capacity to transform tragedy into opportunity. Our objective now is not to return Israel’s northern communities to the status quo; but rather to work with Israel’s people to create a new, stronger reality. A more secure future.
As we move forward, we need to recognize that close to one-third of Israel’s population has been traumatized - forced to either move life underground or to seek temporary shelter elsewhere. As life returns to ‘normal’, hundreds of thousands of youngsters have had to transition from shell shock back to school. Without immediate and ongoing support, it’s hard to imagine how they would have successfully reintegrated into a normative school year framework.
We're not just repairing communities, we are working together to empower them. We’re healing traumatized children while we create a sustainable platform on which they can thrive.
The Jewish Agency turned to the UJC after the war, to establish a fund that would support these rehabilitative efforts. Thanks to your generous support, we were able to establish the Fund for the Enrichment of Children and Youth in War-Stricken Regions (Northern Israel and Sderot and its environs). This report is an overview of the Jewish Agency's partner organizations and the projects they implemented.
The Fund sponsor programs run primarily by four organizations: Tapuah, Hapoel Keter, the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, and Karev. The programs are designed to support northern Israel's youth as they recover from the trauma of war.
Intel Learn, implemented by Tapuah, teaches participants computer skills (using certain software programs) while focusing on developing teamwork, community ties and student cooperation.
The Hapoel Keter Education and Social Project builds relationships between participants from diverse backgrounds, provides frameworks for scholastic achievement, and works to improve participants' self-esteem – all through the world of sport.
Children Make a Difference, a program from the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI), is an environmental education program that aims to build participants' connection to the land through education and activities.
Keren Karev's after school cultural enrichment programs cover a wide range of activities – everything from musical instruments to conflict resolution to sports and more – as they facilitate processing of post-war trauma and recovery.
One year later, we can look at what the Jewish Agency and UJC have been able to provide for children of the North with pride. With your generous and much-needed support, crucial educational and cultural programs were implemented that have gone a long way in rebuilding participants' feelings of connectedness and pride in their local community.
But our work is not done yet. The scars caused by the war run deep; continued and additional support is needed to ensure that the youth of today become the most productive, contributive community members possible. We did not leave them to fend for themselves during the war; let us not abandon them in recovery.