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History of the centre..
Four afternoons a week, the austere, whitewashed concrete structures adjacent to Kiryat Malachi’s “Netzach Yisrael” Elementary School become transformed into a vibrant, pulsating center of activity for 40 of the city’s most disadvantaged children. The flagship branch of the Afikim Family Enrichment Program, it could well be labeled an incubator for future leaders of Israel.
Kiryat Malachi, in the hot, southern part of the country, claims the dubious distinction of having the highest unemployment rate in Israel. Of the participants in the city’s Afikim branch, 60% are children of Ethiopian immigrants, and a good number of others are children of immigrants from the FSU. A full 90% of their parents are currently unemployed.
The center’s director, Ilana Chasin, was born in Kiryat Malachi to parents who immigrated there from Morocco. Beyond her own four children and baby granddaughter, Ilana is a concerned, loving mother for each and every Afikim child in her care. “I’ve been to every single home. I have to hold back my tears each time I walk into these completely sparse, bare hovels. There’s no table or places to sit. Windows are broken, the refrigerators are empty, and despair pervades every cranny.
“There’s simply no way a parent could sit and help his child prepare homework. But then, the vast majority of Afikim’s parents are illiterate, and most don’t speak Hebrew either. To survive, the children must become independent at a very young age, and the results are frequently tragic--Their homes are in the heart of neighborhoods where drugs, burglaries, promiscuity, and serious crime permeate every street.”
With the images of such severe poverty constantly in her mind, Ilana set out to make the Afikim center the warm, encouraging place that every child needs to come home to. From providing nourishing, plentiful meals to one-on-one teaching to fun sports and music activities, Kiryat Malachi’s Afikim program—the first of the organization’s three branches-- soon became the lifeblood of children who’d been trapped in the painful cycle of poverty and failure. “Parents come every day to say ‘thank you,’ in the simplest words they can use,” Ilana smiles.
Ilana, who has been a teacher at the Netzach Yisrael school for 20 years, sought top professionals to join the Afikim team of instructors. “I wish everyone could see what is now happening before our eyes. A child-at-risk who has barely had the wherewithal to exist suddenly becomes a child who is well fed, taught diligently by expert teachers, given fun activities and field trips, and made to feel that he or she is important and successful. We go the extra mile to take care of their various needs—providing books, school supplies, even clothing and shoes---just to free the child to learn. We’re starting them on a cycle of success.”
Sometimes a child’s pain is written across its face, Ilana confides, but not always. “Balainesh (not her real name), an Ethiopian girl in fourth grade, always tries very hard to keep up with her studies and is thriving in Afikim. Yet one visit to her home was enough to break my heart. She lives alone with her father, who is both deaf and mute—and unemployed. Her mother has been hospitalized in a mental institution for so many years that Balainesh, the youngest child, hardly remembers her. I stood there and took a quick stock of where a mother’s touch was most needed, and then went right to work collecting clothing, including undergarments, and shoes that would fit this growing girl.
“I know how proud Balainesh is, and I prayed that I wouldn’t insult her with the package I’d assembled. But she trusts me so completely that she accepted it swiftly and gratefully. The entire Afikim staff is now rallying to her cause, because we are truly her home—whatever food and drink she receives here is all she has. She loves learning, and suddenly we’re seeing a beautiful young girl gaining self-confidence, improved social skills and a greater ability to communicate. Last week I overheard Balainesh telling a friend that she plans to become a doctor!”
The Afikim model does not stop with improving the lives of the children, but pays careful heed to empowering the parents to succeed at home and in the job market. One day each week, the Kiryat Malachi branch becomes a goal-oriented center for parents, where they are taught parenting skills, consumerism and marketable vocational skills. “It’s not enough to invest only in the child,” Ilana stresses. “Investing in his or her family is an equally essential component for attaining our goals. Like the children, we teach their parents to stand on their own two feet and to gain the self-confidence to succeed in raising and supporting their children.
“From what I see and feel happening in the Afikim program, we can definitely expect it to generate tangible results on the community, family and personal levels,” Ilana declares. “We are transforming our children and their families from being a burden on the State to becoming valuable citizens who will contribute to Israeli society. We’ve been given the honor—and challenge--of opening the door for them to a different future.”
The AFIKIM Family Association in Kiryat Malachi is supported by the UK Young AFIKIM.
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