We visited several of JDC-Ashalim’s flagship initiatives for children and youth at risk, and their families. Much as I (and, I hope, you) appreciate and enjoy the written updates we get, there is nothing like visiting the children and families we serve, and seeing how JDC-Ashalim’s programs change lives each day.

I arrived just before Israel announced the unilateral cease fire to Operation Cast Lead. There was great tension throughout the country, as more and more cities came in range of the newer Qassam missiles. It felt like the whole country had clenched teeth, and I can only imagine the additional stress this put on children.

In Jerusalem, I visited JDC-Ashalim’s Better Together A-Tur neighborhood, and Susan’s House, part of JDC-Ashalim’s youth entrepreneurship It’s a Deal programs. Another day, with the senior staff, we traveled into the Southern Conflict Region (please don’t tell Patty) to visit an ECHAD for pre-school kids in Lakia, a Bedouin town.

I further had the honor of spending a day with Arnon Mantver and the JDC-Israel division heads on a visit to the port city of Ashdod, which came under rocket fire for the first time during the recent conflict. We met with Mayor Yechiel Lasri and members of his staff who told us of the city’s emergency activities, and about the 120 Strong program for the elderly and the disabled.

120 Strong (as in, may you live to be 120 strong) was launched by Israel’s Ministry of Social Affairs in partnership with JDC-Israel, assisted by, I am proud to say, emergency funding from CJP, Boston’s federation.

The enclosed update provides an overview of JDC-Ashalim’s war related activities during Operation Cast Lead. While much of the physical damage has been repaired, our efforts continue to bring comfort, relief and strength to the many children and families that are suffering as a result of shelling from Gaza.

You should all be proud of the work done by our JDC-Ashalim staff and volunteers. They represent JDC with remarkable skill, courage and dedication.

Sincerely yours,

Charles



JDC-Ashalim during Operation Cast Lead – Special Update- February 2009

Dear Friends,

In this Special Update, we have chosen to highlight several stories that speak both to the hardships endured before and during this emergency and to the power of our programs to bring relief, comfort and hope to those scared from rocket attacks. During Operation Cast Lead, hostilities intensified in Sderot and the surrounding Gaza border communities, and the conflict widened to new areas, including Israel’s 5th and 6th largest cities – Ashdod and Beer Sheva. Approximately 19,000 children and youth in JDC-Ashalim programs in 18 localities/regional authorities were directly affected by the Hamas attacks on their hometowns.

Testimonies received throughout the war from parents and staff in the south attest to the effectiveness of our trauma programs, and offer a glimmer of hope amidst the pain and destruction. Another bright light was the ability of our programs that operate through schools or in after-school and community centers to care for their young participants by arranging alternative programming in shelters, paying home visits or staying in touch by phone. Our programs once again turned on a dime and proved their effectiveness in times of emergency, as they have been in times of peace.

We are proud of and thank JDC-Ashalim staff members who valiantly came to the aid of our children, when many of them were personally experiencing the war’s effects.

Currently, JDC-Ashalim programs in the south of Israel are helping children and youth return to their normal routine, and our professionals are alert to the first symptoms of
trauma. The lurking security threat, heightened by several violations of the fragile ceasefire, continues to impact all our programs in the region.

We are grateful for the support of UJC and North American Jewish Communities that is helping to bring JDC-Ashalim’s trauma care programs to the many children and youth who need them right now.

Sincerely yours,

Charles Ribakoff, Chair
Dr. Rami Sulimani, Director
JDC Ashalim Sub-Committee JDC-Ashalim


On a personal note: On behalf of the entire JDC-Ashalim staff, I thank Charles Ribakoff, our new Israel Ashalim Sub-Committee Chair for visiting us last month, for his energy and leadership. Sincerely, Rami

Visits to Ashalim programs after Operation Cast Lead. Above: Charles Ribakoff with toddlers at ECHAD Partnership early childhood program in Bedouin village. Below: With Rami at Susan’s House, an It’s a Deal youth-run business.


Tami’s Trauma
Coping with fear, anxiety, trauma, therapeutic assistance, and emotional intervention have all become part of schools’ daily lexicon in Sderot, communities on the Gaza border and now in Ashkelon, Ashdod and other places in 25-mile rocket range from Gaza.

Long before Operation Cast Lead, JDC-Ashalim in partnership with Israel’s Ministry of Education, municipalities, and health and social service organizations recognized that schools and kindergartens offer a framework to help children cope with the emotional wounds caused by the constant landing of rockets in their hometowns.

Tami, who is twelve years old, trembles uncontrollably every time there is a Red Color alert. Like many children in communities close to the Gaza border, she experienced a near miss; a Kassam rocket landed just by her home three years ago. Following the explosion, she and her whole family were rushed by ambulance to the hospital. As a result of this horrific incident, Tami and her three siblings suffer from trauma. Tami has been prescribed medication for anxiety and depression.

In the weeks leading up to Israel’s operation in Gaza, Kassam rockets hit Israel’s southern region several times a day with Red Color alerts giving 15 second warnings of the imminent threat. During the school day, the drill was familiar: run to the safe space, wait for the boom and then go back to class once the threat has passed. For Tami, the repeated alerts triggered so much anxiety that during one of those days she sat on the floor, all shaking, and mumbled that she couldn’t move her legs. She asked for a wheelchair, as she couldn’t stand.

Tami’s school has a Havens of Calm room that offers children a specially designed physical space that includes therapists who work with kids to cope with life under the threat of missiles. That day, Yonat, an art therapist, gently persuaded Tami to slowly walk with her to the Havens of Calm room. What transpired is instructive to the vital work of the therapists who work in Havens of Calm and other JDC-Ashalim trauma programs:


Tami: You can’t help me, leave me alone, just bring me a wheelchair, I feel nauseous. What’s your name?
Yonat: My name is Yonat and I am an art therapist. I can help you if you cooperate with me. I know you are not well now, you are shaking and cold.
Tami: OK, just no drawing.
Yonat: You said you don’t feel well, how about your hands?
Tami sighed: My hands are a little better.
Yonat: Good, we will use them until you tell me to stop. How is your head?
Tami: Hurts, I feel pressure.
Yonat: From 1 to 10, how much pain are you in?
Tami: Nine.
Yonat: So we have one left. Let’s use it, ready?
Tami agreed: We’ll try.
Yonat: Please try to draw your body. You can stop if you get tired. I promise I’ll stay with you until you feel better.
Tami: Why do I need this?
Yonat: Drawing your body will give us a map of how you feel. Afterwards we will check each part to see how you feel your body.
Tami drew quietly with difficulty. She stopped occasionally but finished her picture.
Yonat complimented her: Even though you feel so weak, I see that you want to feel better and I can try to help in a few ways, if you are ready for more.
Tami: What is next Yonat?
Yonat: Let’s use markers, but let’s choose the colors. Red for places where your body is active, like where it is jumpy or feels pressure. Blue is for where there is little activity, almost frozen. You can choose a color for your fear.
Tami immediately responded: Black, black is scary.
Yonat continued: OK, let’s start.

Tami and Yonat spent the next hour together. After coloring in this drawing, Tami drew another picture with a tree and then one of her mother. Yonat and Tami talked more about her first drawing, especially about how each part of her body responds to a Red Color alert. Tami, now more relaxed, began talking about the Kassam rocket landing so close to her home and about her family being injured that day. Yonat’s sensitivity and experience was instrumental in bringing relief to Tami who eventually was able to walk back to her class and continue with her school day.

The therapy offered in the Havens of Calm rooms and other JDC-Ashalim trauma programs truly bring calm to Tami and thousands of other children like her.

Havens of Calm rooms were vital in helping students return to school after Operation Cast Lead. Children and youth knew that in school they would have the opportunity to express their fears, the means to relax and find comfort, as well as support in dealing with their anxieties.

Pictured on left: meditation session, right: feelings game. Photos: Ofir Ben Natan


Thanks to the support of UJC’s Israel Emergency Campaign, UIA-Canada, Federations and Donors, 26 Havens of Calm rooms have been established and continue to operate in Sderot schools, serving students from kindergarten through 12th grade. Additional Havens of Calm rooms offer tranquility and support to students in Gaza border communities and in Ashkelon. To date, JDC-Ashalim’s Havens of Calm program has helped over 3,000 children and youth in the southern Israel.


Better Together for Each Other During Crisis

While rockets hit Haifa’s Hadar neighborhood during the 2006 Second Lebanon War, the Kiryat Malachi Better Together program invited families from their sister program in Hadar for home hospitality, a gesture which signaled the newfound capacity of Kiryat Malachi residents to reach out to others in need. As Operation Cast Lead unfolded and Kiryat Malachi came under fire for the first time, Hadar residents were quick to respond. Better Together communities in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Rosh Haayin, and Migdal Haemek also joined with offers of home hospitality, assistance in preparation for high school matriculation exams, and activities at community recreational facilities.

Approximately 550 children, youth and parents from Kiryat Malachi were hosted out of harms way during Operation Cast Lead and enjoyed visits to museums, the Western Wall, movie nights, bowling and other fun activities. In Haifa and Migdal Haemek, AMEN youth volunteers also joined in hosting the Kiryat Malachi Better Together guests.

Better Together hosts and Kiryat Malachi guests, in their own words:

“I feel refreshed and ready to go home to be there for my parents again. Day and night I worry that they will not understand the instructions broadcasted on the radio, and feel responsible for my family’s safety.” Tamar, an Ethiopian-Israeli teenager, who visited in Haifa “It was like we were celebrities arriving from the front lines, with residents applauding when we got off the buses. We left Migdal Haemek with presents to take home.” David

“During the Second Lebanon War we had to leave our home, and were hosted by a family we did not know in Rehovot. I am glad we could give back to others who needed it during this crisis.” Michal, mother of students in Midgal Haemek who hosted teens from Kiryat Malachi

“About 100 of my students signed up to host 50 teens that came from Kiryat Malachi. The visit was so successful that many students and parents are disappointed to have
missed out on this opportunity.” Avi Amiram, Principal of Rogozin High School, Migdal Haemek

“My daughter won’t leave our secure room, even for a shower. It is so wonderful to see her run and play.” Miriam, a mother of a preschool child hosted on a parentchild day in Jerusalem

“We wanted to reciprocate for all the help we received from our friends down south just two years ago.” Yaakov Broder, Head of Hadar’s Neighborhood Administration in Haifa

Left: Kiryat Malachi and Haifa youth at Madatech – the Israel National Museum of Science, located in the Hadar neighborhood. Right: New friendships form at Migdal Haemek movie night. Photos: Better Together program


In Kiryat Malachi, Better Together staff and residents cared for those who stayed home. Since the after-school centers and other facilities where Better Together programs operate were closed, program staff arranged to meet with participants in small groups in their homes, in this way maintaining contact and ensuring continuity. Better Together activists initiated an impressive grassroots effort to care for children in the public shelters near their apartment buildings. They cleaned the shelters, brought down carpets and toys and planned activities for the children. In coordination with the Israeli Army’s Home Front Command, approximately 80 toddlers to teenage age kids enjoyed visits of volunteer clowns, science activities, and song troupes that brought laughter and some relief in a safe environment.

Once again, we saw the results of Better Together’s ability to transform the most depressed neighborhoods into sources of unity and kindness – whether it be in Kiryat Malachi to mobilize under fire, or elsewhere to be helpers to others in need. The generous support of the Dorothea Gould Foundation, the Steinhardt Family Foundation, the Lowenstein Family, the Chais Family Foundation, the Samberg Family Foundation, and the Rayne Foundation (UK) to various Better Together locations has made this progress possible. Currently there are nine Better Together neighborhoods in six cities and towns in Israel, and the groundwork is being laid for Better Together to begin in eight new cities.


Selected Photos from the Field

JDC-Ashalim distributed 1,600 new Hibuki “huggy” dolls to preschoolers this school year, 300 of them during the war when it was possible to work with groups of children in shelters, with the support of UJC’s Israel Emergency Campaign.

A new element – a children’s story titled “Hibuki in the Shelter” – was added to the program during the war, when children were forced to find protection behind concrete structures or in other safe places. The story begins when Hibuki is walking to the store by himself when the “Red Color” alert sounds. It validates children’s fears, encourages them to derive strength and comfort in others during crisis, and reassures them that life continues even after a life-threatening experience. Photo: Hibuki program

The “Red Color” Song program, which has been successfully preventing trauma from repeated Red Color alerts among young children, will expand over the coming months throughout preschools in Sderot and Gaza border communities, thanks to a generous contribution from Carol Smokler.

The twin girls in this kibbutz family taught the “Red Color” Song to the whole family and compelled them to sing the song along with its therapeutic movements each time an alert sounded. According to the twins’ mother, a social worker, “The song has made a huge difference to my children. Beforehand, hearing the alert would make them stressed and panicked; some of the kids froze in place and others would cry. Today, these reactions are gone, and instead the whole family runs through the song together.” Photo: Red Color Song program

The Preparation for Life (Mechina Lechaim) program in Sderot visited JDC-Israel and met with Dr. Rami Sulimani and other staff during a three-day respite in Jerusalem

For the 12 physically disabled participants in the program’s southern location, living with the escalating rocket attacks became too dangerous. The group was evacuated from Sderot, leaving behind their volunteer activities, a critical element of this transition to adulthood program. Despite their fears, many spoke about wanting to go back to Sderot during their visit to JDC. Shoshana was concerned about children she worked with in one of the schools. Ofer couldn’t wait to get back to speak with callers on the city’s hotline. (Participants names changed) Photo: Hana Primak

Many Gamla volunteers continued to meet with the children and youth they tutor even during Operation Cast Lead, providing continuity as well as personal support.

These veteran Israelis were also a tremendous help to the immigrant families, helping them overcome fears and uncertainties and explaining the Israeli Army’s Home Front Command instructions to them. Gamla operates in six locations in the south, with 260 volunteers providing tutoring assistance to 280 students. Photo: Ofir Ben Natan