30% of haredi teens - 'hidden dropouts'

From The Jerusalem Post
July 9, 2009
By Matthew Wagner

Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski

More than 30 percent of junior high and high school-aged haredi youths are "hidden dropouts" who are technically registered in an educational framework but are dysfunctional students, according to a Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) - ASHALIM estimate released this week.

"Rabbis and leaders in the haredi community who realize they have serious problem are beginning to open up to outside intervention," said Dr. Rami Sulimani, Director General of ASHALIM-JDC.

"A growing number of haredi teenagers are simply not functioning in educational frameworks and they are making up an increasingly growing fringe group within haredi society."

Sulimani said that few if any of these dropouts make their way into non-haredi education frameworks.

According to a study by Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute a total of 17% of elementary school-aged children are hidden dropouts and 30% of junior high and high school students are.

ASHALIM-JDC estimates the level in haredi schools is even higher.

Sulimani admitted that part of the explanation for the higher rates of hidden dropouts among haredim is the willingness of haredi educational institutions to accommodate dysfunctional students.

Nevertheless, he said that the main problem in haredi schools was the total lack of professional psychological counseling available to teachers and students.

According to data provided by the Central Bureau of Statistics and the Education Ministry, there are presently 225,000 haredi children aged 5 to 17 in the nation's schools, 21% of the total. Assuming that between 17% and 30% of these children are hidden dropouts the total number is at least 38,000.

According to a study conducted in 2008 by Eliyahu Hurvitz and David Brodet under the aegis of the "Israel 2028 Project", haredi children are expected to make up a third of all Jewish children in the nation's elementary and high schools and a quarter of the total for both Jewish and non-Jewish students.

This projection is based on the assumption that each haredi woman will have on average six children, 25% lower than the present average.

Dr. Uzi Rebhun, a demographer at Hebrew University who recently wrote a position paper for the Metzilah Center on the possible ramifications of the rapid growth of the haredi and Arab populations for the modern Jewish state, said that there were signs of a fall in haredi fertility.

"In cities such as Beitar Ilit and Modi'in Ilit we have noted a fall in fertilization rates," said Rebhun. "Nevertheless, the main source of Jewish population growth will continue to be from the haredi sector."

Rebhun and Gilad Malach pointed out in the their study that even students who succeed in the haredi school system are unprepared to entire the labor market, are discouraged from doing mandatory army service and are not educated to respect Zionist ideals.

If a large percentage of haredi students are also dysfunctional this complicates the problem of integrating this rapidly growing population into mainstream Israeli society.

Although the ASHALIM-JDC program is being launched in cooperation with the government, significant funding was provided by the New York Jewish Federation.

Methods that will be used to treat dysfunctional students here were borrowed in part from experience gained working with the haredi community in Brooklyn New York, said Sulimani.

"We will be sharing knowledge with US organizations such as the Federation Employment Guidance Services (FEGS) and the Education Alliance," said Sulimani.

Haredi youths exposed to post-modernist trends that encourage personal expression and a rejection of religious hierarchy and authority are finding it more difficult to cope with the stringent limits and rules of the haredi society, said Sulimani.

This tension leads to emotional difficulties that are often exacerbated by haredi parents' reluctance to enter into open dialogue with their children, added Sulimani.

"Parents remain oblivious to their child's needs and continue to apply the same traditional, restrictive norms to their children's behavior without recognizing the child's rights."

The NIS 5m. program will train a total of 240 educators, 120 school advisors and 120 principals in the haredi school system.

"These educators will be proactive in recognizing signs of distress among students whose emotional needs are not being fulfilled at home."

Sulimani said that the goal to encourage a dialogue between children and parents would ultimately lead the parents to ease up on the demands they make of their children.

"We want to start putting the child and his needs at the center of care and attention."

Sulimani said that the most common problem he faces with haredi youths, especially teens, is their total lack of recreational time.

"There is a constant demand on them to learn Torah and there are not other options. So they end up looking for other activities that are not condoned by their parents."

Sulimani admitted that the approach that he intends to implement has never been tested before. However, he said that he was certain that as soon as modern educational psychology theories would be applied to the haredi community there would be an improvement in dropout rates.

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Family Retreat Rekindles Jewish Life In Siberia

Looking at Dasha Mazanik, one would never know that at one time her only Jewish experience was limited to what her grandmother, and sole guardian, Tamara shared.

And yet today, Dasha, who was abandoned by her alcoholic mother after the death of her father, is an active participant in the JDC-supported Ulan-Ude JCC in Eastern Siberia, has taught Jewish tradition to youngsters, and participates in the JCC’s Shalom dance group. She even became a bat mitzvah in 2007.

That transformation culminated this year in Dasha’s service as a madricha (counselor) at JDC’s week-long Bar/Bat Mitzvah Program for young Jews and their families in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia. For those Jews, who live far from the traditional centers of Jewish life in the former Soviet Union, this program was an opportunity to renew ties to their Jewish heritage and have their own bar/bat mitzvah.

The program, created in 2005 by JDC Board Member Elaine Berke, included lectures, games, prayer, study, and discussions, culminating in a ceremony led by madrichim from the region who, like Dasha, have participated in past programs and Rabbinical students from California-based partner, the American Jewish University (AJU).

“Reconnecting Jews to their heritage is a cornerstone of JDC’s work and I am so pleased that the Bar/Bat Mitzvah Program ensures that every Jew in the region has the choice to engage in Jewish education and celebration,” said Berke, who again attended the ceremonies with her family this year. “ The program was filled with so much ruach and joy, it was astounding.”

Berke initiated the program after visiting the vast region and learning that Jewish life flourished there in the early 20th century, but that these Jewish coming-of-age ceremonies were then outlawed under communist rule. She began a special fundraising campaign to provide bar/bat mitzvah education and celebrations in a place that is better known for its historic gulags than for its Jewish experiences.

Hailing from distant Siberian Jewish communities like Krasnoyarsk, Kansk, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Tomsk, Ulan-Ude, and Barnaul, the families attending the program this year discovered traditions they had never heard of or experienced themselves.

“Everything was super,” said Dasha. “It was amazing how we became a real community during a week in retreat.”

JDC has a long history in Russia and re-entered in 1988, where it found a Jewish community struggling to reconnect with their past. Soviet Jewry lacked even the most basic knowledge of Jewish culture, religion, history, or community life. JDC then developed Jewish renewal and education programs throughout the former Soviet Union, designed to help the region’s estimated 1.3 million Jews create viable, self-sufficient Jewish communities.

The Bar/Bat Mitzvah Program exemplifies JDC’s ongoing commitment to providing outlets for Jews across the vast expanse of the FSU to connect with their Jewish heritage and each other. By engaging young people and their families, JDC not only educates today’s community, but tomorrow’s leaders. This program is one of approximately 60 Jewish renewal retreats that JDC will administer in the FSU during the summer of 2009.

Strengthening Father-Son Bonds in the Face of Disability

The emotions that arise within families when illness or disability strike can be unpredictable and exact terrible toll; so Haled Mugrabi, an Arab-Israeli father of three living in Raine discovered when his middle child Muhammad was born with severe mental and physical impairments.

“After his birth and when I found out about his condition I was very angry and mad at life, at God, at my wife, at myself,” Haled said of his young son, who would eventually be confined to a wheelchair because of motor difficulties. He would also suffer vision problems, and possess only minimal ability to communicate verbally.

In tears, he continued: “The anger and outrage was such an obstacle between myself and my son that I didn’t relate to him. All of my relatives and friends, when they would meet my son at home would be so excited by the angelic smile of his. And all I could see was an abomination in my home.”

For a long time, Haled couldn’t talk about his feelings of anger, guilt, and embarrassment to his family or anyone. Worse, his emotional neglect of Muhammad influenced how the boy’s siblings—a younger sister and an older brother—related to him. Often they ignored him or mocked him.

Fortunately, in May 2008 Haled took a critical first step toward healing the rift in his family when he attended his first meeting of the Brit Avot (Father’s Alliance)—a support group created for Arab-Israeli fathers of preschool children with special needs. The original model of Brit Avot, developed with the Ministry of Social Affairs, targeted fathers who are unemployed or underemployed in low wage jobs, and helps to open avenues to employment and improved father-child relations. Brit Avot is one of many components of the ECHAD (Early Childhood Achievement and Development) Partnership, a unique collaboration between JDC-Ashalim and the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco together with the Israeli government that aims to effect significant changes in how young Arab-Israeli children are educated, related to, and cared for in their communities. Brit Avot is helping Arab-Israeli fathers like Haled forge stronger, more supportive bonds with their children age six and under by encouraging father-child activities, enhancing parenting skills, and improving access to community-based social services.

“I joined the group primarily because of my wife’s pressure and my curiosity to meet other fathers that have children with special needs like my own son,” Haled said. Indeed, Haled’s experience is not unique. ECHAD—and the Brit Avot program, specifically—were created in the response to the sobering reality that Arab-Israeli children are among the most disadvantaged of all of Israel’s citizens. More than 50 percent live below the poverty line, and many grow up in large families, factors that make it especially difficult for parents to create healthy environments for their children’s development.

For Haled—and for many other fathers dealing with the challenges of poverty, unemployment and disability—the first step forward is often the hardest: “In the beginning, I didn’t participate much in the meetings but I didn’t miss the meetings because it was important for me to be present. As the group progressed I realized that my son’s condition was much better than some of the others. And from there I made the decision to get close to him and enjoy his smile.”

The results for the Mugrabis have been affirming and empowering.

According to Shahnaz Habashi Maree, the ECHAD Partnership coordinator who recently visited the family, theirs is a home no longer burdened by anger and shame, but is instead “full of life, warmth, and love for one another.” She added that the parents regularly visit the educational program Muhammad attends and are attentive to his progress, which has been considerable.

Now age five, Muhammad has shown substantial improvement in his behavior and development. Where he once only used frantic gestures and unintelligible sounds to communicate, he has now begun using his first discernable worlds—“Ba” for daddy and “Ma” for mommy. The siblings have also begun to interact more freely and positively with their brother.

Both parents credit these positive changes to a concerted effort to take greater responsibility for Muhammad’s care. In the past, he spent almost his entire day at a day care facility, returning home an hour before bedtime. Now, at Haled’s insistence, he only spends half days at day care, so there are more opportunities at home to interact.

Today, Haled says he is at peace with the fact that his son has special needs: “This is what God has given me, and today I am pleased with this gift and I will do whatever I can so that my son will be happy.”

JDC Ambassadors Mission to Turkey and Uzbekistan

Explore the vibrant Jewish communities of Turkey and Uzbekistan
January 15-21, 2010

Mission Highlights:
- Spend a memorable and unique Shabbat with the Jewish community of Istanbul
- Learn about the challenges and hopes of the Turkish Jewish community
- See firsthand the educational, welfare and community development programs that energize the Uzbek Jewish community
- Marvel at the magnificent monuments in Samarkand


Istanbul - January 15-17, 2010
Turkey's Jewish community is one of the oldest Diaspora communities in the world, dating back to the Second Century CE. Today there are roughly 23,000 Jews in Turkey, the vast majority of whom live in Istanbul.

Over the last decade, the Jewish community has been hit hard by Turkey's economic crisis. JDC has helped the community establish an economic unit that offers employment counseling, job placement programs and small business development assistance. It also continues to provide scholarships for children to attend Jewish schools, camp programs and JDC training seminars.


Uzbekistan - January 17-22, 2010
The history of the Jews of Uzbekistan is long and fascinating, spanning more than 2,000 years. The two distinct Jewish communities that live in Uzbekistan - Ashkenazim and Bukharan - live separate yet harmonious lives, and both enjoy cordial relations with their Muslim neighbors.

JDC began working in Uzbekistan in the early 1990s to bring relief to those most in need, to foster Jewish renewal and to establish a supportive network of services for the Jewish community.


**Participants will be asked to make a $25,000 gift to the JDC Ambassadors Circle to help support JDC's mission of Rescue, Relief and Renewal of Jewish community life in Israel and around the world.

For more information, contact Dov Ben-Shimon at (212) 885-0841 or dov@jdcny.org.

'HaMasad': National Initiative for Israelis with Special Needs

In this briefing, Steve Schwager, CEO shares some exciting news about a new partnership that will benefit Israelis with special needs.

People often ask me what I like best about working at JDC. I respond with the following observation: JDC is large enough so that there is much to do for our people, but small enough so that with a little effort, you can change a single person’s life wherever on the globe they live. My well-used example is Klara Kogan, a 102-year-old woman in Kishinev, Moldova who is alive today only because of JDC.

Recently, Alan Gill, the head of our Global Resource Development efforts, sent me his story. I share it with you below:

A number of years back, I was walking down Emek Refaim St., the bustling little artery of our Jerusalem neighborhood of Baka/German Colony, when I saw a woman about my age coming towards me, strapped into a motorized wheelchair. As we approached one another, our eyes met and we smiled; then, for some reason, we slowed down and stopped to chat. We introduced ourselves—her name was Daniella. We learned that we both lived in the neighborhood and she asked me where my children went to school. When I mentioned the name of my daughter’s high school, Daniella started grilling me in not atypical Israeli assertive fashion as to the quality of the school’s education, the nature of the student body, the passion of the principal and teachers.

I asked Daniella why she was so interested in this particular school. She told me that she had a daughter and was thinking of sending her there when she reached high school age. I must have looked a bit surprised for she then said something akin to, “You didn’t know that a quadriplegic woman could have children, did you?” I was embarrassed and apologized for possibly offending her. Daniella just laughed and said, “If I could, I would give you a hug.”

Daniella and I went over to a bench so that we could both sit and talk. And then she told me the story of her life—an inspirational account of courage and determination to live in mainstream Israeli society. I told her that her story was close to both my heart and professional interests because I worked at “HaJoint”. Daniella’s eyes lit up and she said it was b’sheirt that we had met, for she was meeting later that week with JDC representatives to check out rental space for the newly initiated Center for Independent Living, a program that we were piloting for Israelis with special needs, in partnership with local authorities.

Since our first meeting, Daniella and I have talked many times, either during my walks through our neighborhood, at JDC offices, or at the now permanent site of The Zusman Center for Independent Living in Jerusalem. The Zusman Center, sponsored by our Honorary Life Board Member, Larry Zusman and his wife, Leonore, is one of the flagship projects for Israelis with special needs that have been developed by JDC over the years.

As a result of the pioneering work of JDC professionals Tammy Barnea and Avital Sandler-Loeff, and the vision and leadership of JDC-Israel’s Director, Arnon Mantver, we now have a National Initiative for Israelis with Special Needs. Known in short Hebrew as “HaMasad” ( NOT to be confused with the Mossad), there is now a national headquarters for planning and program development for the many thousands of Israelis with special needs. The Center for Independent Living and all the programs that JDC has developed—and those that will be initiated in the future—will hereafter be housed under one national roof partnership, HaMasad, with Tammy as its director. The founding partners of HaMasad are JDC, the Israeli Ministries of Finance, Social Affairs, Health, the National Social Security Institute, and a major American-Israeli Jewish foundation.

And this leads me to the latest and very exciting part of this story. I am very pleased to announce that the Ruderman Family Charitable Foundation has become a founding partner in HaMasad with a commitment of $2 million over the next four years (2009 through 2012).

I met Jay and Shira Ruderman soon after they moved to Israel from Boston a few years ago. Since then, we have spent many hours together building both a strong professional relationship and a good friendship. Together with my JDC colleague, David Zackon, we have traveled to Ukraine and Russia. We have worked closely as partners in two innovative and successful programs in Israel, one for families with special needs children (Amit L’Mishpacha) and a new education and training initiative (Excel-HT) for young Druze men and woman. The Ruderman family has a deep and demonstrated commitment to helping people with special needs. Through their vision and major philanthropic support, they have made it possible for special needs children to attend Jewish day schools in the Boston area. And upon making aliyah, they began exploring the best way to advance the cause of Israelis with special needs.

Jay Ruderman, who now serves as President of the Ruderman Family Charitable Foundation and whom I hope you have met at our recent Board and RD meetings, has made it a point to get deeply acquainted with JDC and its professional team. Jay epitomizes the promising changes in the philanthropic arena. He is not a “donor”, per se. He is an “investor”. Jay and his Foundation’s trustees want to insure that their philanthropic resources are invested strategically and wisely. He wants a return on their investments so that he can know that those precious philanthropic funds truly are bringing real results to those in need. He wants to be a partner in both funding and governance. And we at JDC say “amen!” as we embrace Jay’s philosophy and strategy of partnership with our major funders. In this time of economic turbulence and massive losses of Jewish foundation assets, we call upon the Jewish philanthropic community to emulate Jay and his peers who invest their resources as strategically as possible. This can only serve to stretch a limited pool of funds that much further while enhancing the lives of those of our People who are most in need of assistance.

I will end as I began, with Daniella, whom I recently saw once again in a neighborhood ice cream shop. We reminisced and laughed about our first encounter; then she proceeded to tell me about her daughter. She’s done superbly in school and, with tears in her eyes, Daniella spoke with great pride about her daughter being able to do what Daniella could not—serve in the Israeli Army.Daniella then thanked me—as a member of the JDC community—for helping to enable her to live independently and make it that much more possible for her to raise her precious daughter with dignity and pride. And this is what HaMasad is all about.Mazal tov and Yasher Koach to JDC, the Government of Israel, Jay Ruderman and the Ruderman Family Charitable Foundation, for having the vision and commitment to insure that our Israeli brethren with special needs live lives of dignity and purpose.
Irv and I want to thank the Ruderman family for this generous gift and hope it is the new start we urgently need for our 2009-2010 fundraising efforts. As you well know, JDC cares for the world’s most vulnerable Jews in Israel and across the globe. We are their safety net. Without JDC many would have no place to turn for the basic necessities of life (food, medicine, and shelter), while others would not or could not become productive members of society. With your caring and help, we bring hope and possibility—and we will continue our work until there isn’t any left to do.

Summer Camp Beckons for 500,000 Kids

In this article from the July 1 issue of The Jerusalem Post, Ashalim, JDC's central non-profit organization in Israel dedicated to the planning and development of services for at-risk children and youth and their families is highlighted for their booklet on acitivities and safety tips for children during their summer holiday.


From The Jerusalem Post
July 1, 2009
By Abe Selig and Judy Siegel

Education Ministry, other agencies offer safety tips

Over 1.2 million elementary and preschool pupils begin their summer vacation Wednesday, eagerly joining their elders - some 612,000 high school and middle school pupils - who began their vacation nearly two weeks ago.

All told, 4,000 schools nationwide are concluding their 2008-2009 academic year.

Pupils across the country will have a number of summertime options, including 4,250 summer camps that are being sponsored by the Education Ministry, which are expected to attract 500,000 youngsters.

An additional 200,000 pupils will take part in other acitivities sponsored by various youth movements - among them hiking and nature camps - and some 10,000 pupils are expected to complete youth leadership seminars, led by the Education Ministry's Youth Society Administration. The latter group will spearhead volunteer efforts in various community projects to take place both inside and outside of the classroom during the next school year.

In addition to details on all of the activities being offered by the ministry's Youth Society Administration, the Education Ministry has posted information on worker's rights for minors on their website, for high school pupils who may be working a summer job. This includes minimum wage, working hours, breaks and the legal ages allowed for the performance of certain jobs. All this can be found online at http://noar.education.gov.il/main/upload/miscell/summer.htm.

The Ashalim-JDC organization has a free 16-page booklet - so far in Hebrew only - available on its website that advises parents and caregivers on ensuring a safe summer. The illustrated guidebook is meant especially for those families that can't afford to send their children to the shopping mall or to summer camps to pass the time.

Downloadable at http://www.jdc.org.il/, the booklet advises keeping kids occupied with activities other than TV and computers, while encouraging them to get physical activity and even to cook safely in the kitchen. Recipes for nutritious meals are also supplied.

The organization hopes to translate the booklet to English and other languages in the coming months.

Ashalim-JDC, established by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, focuses on planning and developing services for at-risk children and teenagers. Since it was established a decade ago, it has invested over NIS 830 million in developing over 300 programs to help some 85,000 disadvantaged children.

Clalit Health Services has released similar tips for schoolchildren on vacation and their parents, stressing the importance of healthful eating, drinking water rather than fattening sweet beverages, exercise and limiting TV and computer time.

At the swimming pool and beach, supervise children at all times to avoid drowning accidents. When driving, always put small children in safety seats and buckle up. Never leave a child even for a few seconds in a parked car.

At a hotel or guest house, look for safety problems and keep electric urns out of reach. Never leave babies and toddlers alone in the bathtub or wading pools.

When going on outings, equip children with hats, high shoes, sunscreen, long pants and plenty of drinking water. Instruct youngsters not to move rocks or put their hands in places where snakes or scorpions may lurk.

Children on bikes, scooters and skates must wear protective helmets.

Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda Dedicated 15 Years After Genocide to Provide Healing Community to African Orphans

JDC Shares Lessons Learned Serving Orphans from the Holocaust in Israel

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RWANDA, June 23, 2009...“I feel like it’s a miracle to come to the Village to live, because I was in a bad life. I don’t have parents. I don’t have a family. I was a street child living on the streets. Now I have hope for my life,” said Marcel whose mother, father, brothers and sister were all killed. Marcel is one of the 1.2 million children orphaned by the Rwandan Genocide. Fifteen years have passed since the mass murder of nearly one million people during the course of 100 days in Rwanda.



Hope for Marcel came with the opening of the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda, a special project of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), which was recently opened and will eventually house 500 high school age Rwandan orphans. The Village is modeled after Israeli youth villages which were built to serve children who lost their parents in the Holocaust.

Agahozo is the Kinyarwanda word for “a place where tears are dried,” and Shalom is Hebrew for “live in peace.” The Village is situated on 143 acres of land that overlooks Lake Mugesera in Rwanda’s Eastern Province and includes 32 group homes, a high school, science and computer labs, land for organic farming, a reforestation program, dining hall, counseling and medical facilities, and recreational fields. This comprehensive living and learning community provides security, structure, and unconditional support for young people who desperately need a healing environment. The first 125 students, whose ranks will eventually grow to 500, moved into the Village in December 2008, and now call it home.

On June 23, 2009, the opening dedication of the new youth residential and educational complex will be a day-long celebration of joy and peace. Students will perform dances, read their poetry, lead tours of the facility, and serve lunch to their guests who are dignitaries from around the world. Rwandan leaders and the Israeli Ambassador will be joined by: Agahozo-Shalom Founder Anne Heyman, Esq.; Seth Merrin, CEO of Liquidnet, JDC’s corporate partner; JDC Board member Nora Barron, and William Recant, JDC Assistant Executive Vice President. The celebration includes the planting of mango and banana trees, unveiling of a mosaic, speeches by students, and the dedication of the Edmond J. Safra Community Center, which was made possible through the generous support of Agahozo-Shalom by the Edmond J. Safra Foundation.

“Within the Jewish world, we have worked with Holocaust survivors to heal some of the psychological wounds of the past,” said JDC’s Dr. William Recant. “Yemin Orde Youth Village in Israel, one of the villages which served as homes to orphans of the Holocaust, has become a model for helping to rebuild traumatized lives. Agahozo-Shalom shares the lessons we learned from these experiences. The Village is a place where children can heal, experience renewal, and prepare for the responsibilities of adulthood. Agahozo-Shalom is a special project for us based on a shared bond of survival.”



Agahozo-Shalom reflects the principles established at Yemin Orde Youth Village of healing or repair (tikkun in Hebrew). Young people are assisted by “house mothers,” many of whom lost family members in the Genocide, mental health counselors, teachers and volunteers who all work together to heal the self and the heart (tikkun halev) and to empower the youth to heal the world by helping others (tikkun olam). The Village also serves orphans and traumatized youth who lost parents to AIDS and other causes.

Agahozo-Shalom Founder and JDC supporter Anne Heyman, said, “In November 2005, I learned that Rwanda had a tremendous orphan problem, and no systemic solution to deal with it. I was immediately struck by the fact that after the Second World War in Israel, there was a tremendous influx of orphans. And what did they do with the children? They built youth villages. This idea struck me as a potential solution for Rwanda. I couldn’t let it go, and now here we are, looking at the Village and the smiling faces of these children.”

JDC provides emergency relief and long-term development assistance worldwide with a track record in international development that lends instant credibility to the project and inspires confidence in its overseas partner organizations and governments. The non-profit organization has a 95-year history of responding quickly and effectively to crises and remaining for the long-term to guide initiatives like the Village to become self-sustaining.

In 1994, during the course of the Rwandan Genocide, nearly one million people were killed, even more people were displaced, the country was left in ruins, and, today, Rwanda has the world’s highest per capita orphan population. These children were not only robbed of their families, of their homes, and of their communities, but also of their hope for a viable future. Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village aims to be a solution to the challenge of healing these traumatized youth. This unique and ambitious special project of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee will serve as a model for caring for the disrupted lives of youth across Rwanda, Africa, and beyond, to wherever there are traumatized youth who need a place to call home.

More information can be found at http://www.agahozo-shalom.org/.

A Wide Angle On Compassion

From the New York Jewish Week
June 26, 2009
by William Meyers

The Fortress is a nondescript warehouse building in Long Island City, Queens, where corporations, institutions and individuals store irreplaceable documents and works of art. There is no signage on the building. Inside, past the security check and down a series of spotless corridors, you arrive at the climate-controlled room where for the last five years Peter Goldberg has been digitizing the photographic archives of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. The Joint has almost 100,000 photographs in its collection, of which 24,126 had been scanned by the day I visited the Fortress early in June. With his present technology Goldberg can scan 7,000 pictures a year, so there is plenty of work yet to be done.

Once a picture and its caption have been scanned, it is put back in its acrylic sleeve, returned to whichever of 3,000 lots it came from, and stored in a gray, acid-free cardboard box. The digital file of the image is saved on a hard drive and posted to the Joint’s server; it is then downloaded from the server by the Joint’s archivists in Manhattan for further processing. Slava Mitsel examines the image on his computer screen, categorizes it by date, country, subject, event and photographer, and lists it to a software program that is the core of the archive’s retrieval system. Institutions, moviemakers, writers from all over the world, as well as individuals researching their family histories request images from the Joint, and they are easily located and provided electronically. But the Joint is the primary user of its archive.

Ever since it came into being amidst the carnage and destruction of World War I, the Joint Distribution Committee has used photographs to document its projects. The organization has worked in over 70 countries where dozens of tongues are spoken, but the images provide a common language. They form a record of the crises the Joint has confronted, of the programs it has run to deal with the crises, and — most memorably — of the people involved, both caregivers and recipients.

The pictures of children can break your heart. There is Rifka Bachar, a 9-year-old photographed in Jerusalem in November 1923 [see photograph above]. The child has long black hair that hangs in two neat braids, and wears a simple dark dress with long sleeves. She sits on a chair that leaves her legs dangling, with her feet crossed at the ankles. There are high-laced shoes on her feet. Her arms are pressed to her sides, and she grips the seat of the chair, a sign of the tension she feels. Bachar is pretty, with regular features, and looks up at the camera with a somewhat skeptical cast on her face. From the caption we learn she lives with her mother and two sisters in one small room. A brother is in an orphanage. Her father was drafted by the Turks and died of tuberculosis. Her mother is sick and cannot work. The sisters are learning trades with the help of the Palestine Orphan Committee, but do not work yet. We are told, “Rifka is modest, well behaved, fond of learning, and quite an interesting child.”


Other pictures from pre-state Israel include one from 1921 labeled “A blind girl examines a wall map at the Jewish Blind Institute (Beth Chinuch Ivrim) in Jerusalem.” The caption informs us that the teachers, a man and a woman, are both blind. From the same year, “Elderly men learn to weave baskets and mats at a workshop founded by JDC” shows over a dozen men, all with white beards and most wearing tattered robes, in a courtyard weaving piles of reeds into baskets. Many of them pause to face the camera and we notice the assortment of headgear they have on: a newsboy cap, a bowler hat, some berets, a fez, an astrakhan pillbox, a few bowl-like caps. The varied chapeaux are probably markers for the different parts of the world from which they washed up in Jerusalem.

There are many pictures from Europe between the wars. In Poltava, Ukraine, “At a JDC-financed ‘Drop of Milk’ laboratory, women prepare milk for distribution to infants.” Five determined-looking women in white medical uniforms stand by a table covered with bottles of milk in the middle of a conspicuously clean room. A photograph from 1929 shows, “Two women at the old age home subsidized by Kiev’s Jewish Relief Society (KEBO).” Somewhat superfluously the caption tells us, “They have had a hard life, these two.” And, of course, there are many pictures from the havoc of World War II and the dislocations of its aftermath.

In the last few decades most of the photographs the Joint has collected have been in color, and the more recent ones were taken on digital cameras rather than film, but the early black-and-white images, some of them made on glass-plate negatives, seem to have greater resonance. In spite of the horrendous conditions they illustrate, the pictures themselves frequently possess great charm. They draw us into the lives and circumstances of these orphans and widows, the maimed and indigent, victims of history. The Joint has employed many exceptional photographers, most famously Roman Vishniac in the late 1930s, but the high quality of the work produced even by anonymous photographers is conspicuous.

The JDC archives are a valuable heritage of the Jewish people, and I am glad the original prints are secure in the Fortress in Queens. For the same reason, I am glad it is the Joint’s eventual intention to make all the digitized images available online.

William Meyers is a writer and photographer, whose photographs are in the collections of the New York Public Library, the Museum of the City of New York and the New-York Historical Society. He writes a column on photography for the Wall Street Journal.

An Exclusive JDC Ambassadors Circle Event...

Join us for a special JDC Ambassadors Circle Lunch

Updates from Around the Jewish World
Thursday July 23, 2009, 12 noon
New York City

In the program:
* An update with Steve Schwager, JDC's CEO, on hotspots around the world.
* Field briefings from Israel, Germany and Rwanda programs
* Connecting the dots around the Jewish world with Judy Amit, JDC's Chief Program Officer

For more information or to RSVP, contact ambassadors@jdc.org or (212) 885-0876.

JDC Receives Coveted 4 Star Rating from Charity Navigator

In this briefing, Steve Schwager, CEO shares the letter he recently received from Charity Navigator, America's premier independent charity evaluator congratulating JDC on our second consecutive 4 Star rating.

In addition to being named one of Charity Navigator’s “10 of the Best Charities Everyone's Heard Of” earlier this year, JDC is among the Non Profit Times’ Top 100 nonprofits and is an accredited charity with the Better Business Bureau.

Today I bring you good news. As you know, both the Board and the staff pride themselves on the efficiency and effectiveness of JDC. We have numerous internal and external audits. Our programs are regularly evaluated and we are always looking for new and innovative ways to carry out our mission. This is just part of the JDC culture and we often take for granted that this is the way every philanthropic entity should operate.

Last week, we were very happy to receive the following letter which gives an impartial, third-party evaluation—and confirmation—of JDC’s transparency and highest level of fiscal responsibility.

On behalf of Charity Navigator, I wish to congratulate American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee on achieving our coveted 4-star rating for sound fiscal management.

As the nonprofit sector continues to grow at an unprecedented pace, savvy donors are demanding more accountability, transparency, and quantifiable results from the charities they choose to support with their hard-earned dollars. In this competitive philanthropic marketplace, Charity Navigator, America's premier charity evaluator, highlights the fine work of efficient charities such as your own, and provides donors with essential information needed to give them greater confidence in the charitable choices they make.

Based on the most recent financial information available, we have calculated a new rating for your organization. We are proud to announce American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee has earned our second consecutive 4-star rating for its ability to efficiently manage and grow its finances. Only 19% of the charities we rate have received at least 2 consecutive 4-star evaluations, indicating that American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee consistently executes its mission in a fiscally responsible way, and outperforms most other charities in America. This “exceptional” designation from Charity Navigator differentiates American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee from its peers and demonstrates to the public it is worthy of their trust.

Forbes, Business Week, and Kiplinger's Financial Magazine, among others, have profiled and celebrated our unique method of applying data-driven analysis to the charitable sector. We evaluate ten times more charities than our nearest competitor and currently attract more visitors to our website than all other charity rating groups combined, thus making us the leading charity evaluator in America. Our irrefutable data shows that users of our site gave more than they planned to before viewing our findings, and in fact, it is estimated that last year Charity Navigator influenced over $10 billion in charitable gifts.

We believe our service will enhance your organization's fundraising and public relations efforts. Our favorable review of American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee's fiscal health will be visible on our website as of July 1st.

We wish you the best in all of your charitable endeavors.

Sincerely,
Ken Berger
President & Chief Executive Officer

Irv and I know that you all join us in kvelling just a little at this unique award. It speaks volumes about not only what we do, but also about who we are. And of course it reinforces our determination to always maintain the highest standards. In this vein, JDC’s staff and lay leadership will be working hard over the summer to prepare the 2010 budget.

We hope you have a wonderful summer.

JDC Partners with Susan G. Komen for the Cure® to Host Second National Breast Cancer Conference in Moscow

JDC’s Women’s Health Empowerment Program in Russia focuses on breast cancer as the most common cause of death among Russian women, ages 45 to 55

On May 18 and May 19, 2009, more than 150 medical professionals, NGO representatives, representatives on a State level, mainly from the Ministry of Health and Social Development, research scientists, breast cancer survivors, and activists from Moscow and Central Russia will join forces in the battle against breast cancer at the InfoSpace International Exhibition Center in Moscow.

The two-day conference is hosted by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC)’s Women’s Health Empowerment Program (WHEP) and its partner, Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, the world’s largest and most progressive grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists.

The Conference will present the results of two years of WHEP’s initiatives in Russia, as well as discussing the current state of breast cancer, and the battle against this disease that is diagnosed in 50,000 women every year and is the most common cause of death among Russian women, ages 45 to 55. In fact, almost every second woman in Russia who is diagnosed with breast cancer dies. The main focus will be on the importance of early detection in Russia, as a catalyst to reduce mortality rates, ways to improve treatment, the importance of doctor to patient communication, rehabilitation, and social services for breast cancer patients.

Featured speakers include: Ambassador Nancy G. Brinker, Founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure; Mr. Alik Nadan, JDC’s Representative for Moscow and Central Russia; Professor Nadezda Rozkova, Chief Mammologist of Russian Federation, Head of Federal Mammology Center; Professor David Zaridze, President of Anticancer Society, Director of the Russian Institute of Carcinogenesis, and Ms. Natalya Vartapetova, Director of Institute for Family Health.

“Our partnership with Susan G. Komen for the Cure gives our Women’s Health Empowerment Program even more strength in the battle against breast cancer,” said Steven Schwager, JDC Chief Executive Officer. “Due to late-stage diagnosis of breast cancers, many Russian women identify their condition as a death sentence. Clearly, women fear the diagnosis to the point where they prefer to look the other way rather than taking action. JDC’s WHEP in Russia provides life-saving knowledge about the disease, prevention measures and counseling.”

“It is only through global collaboration that we can help women everywhere break their silence and take control of their health,” said Ambassador Nancy G. Brinker, Founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. “We are in the early days of a global cancer tsunami, with more than 1.3 million women facing a breast cancer in the coming year alone. Education, awareness and early screening are proven, effective tools in this global battle to save the lives of our mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters and daughters, in Russia and around the world.”

Conference Roundtables will cover: role of NGOs, patient oriented organizations, and advocates in the fight against breast cancer in Russia; areas of cooperation with the medical community and the State; rehabilitation services for women with breast cancer, the need versus the reality, and next steps, and the importance of early detection and WHEP’s role in changing women’s attitudes towards their health.

One of the major outcomes of the Conference will be the work on and adoption of a Plan of Action to be submitted to the Ministry of Health and Social Development after adjournment. JDC’s WHEP Russia has identified the major issues, action items for response, and recommendations for implementation. Focal issues include: the role NGOs, the medical community and local Health Ministry should play in the fight against breast cancer, especially in promoting early detection; provision of psycho-social support services; improvement of the doctor-patient relationship, and mandatory services that should be provided by the State to women following mastectomy, as well as other rehabilitation services.


About Susan G. Komen for the Cure®
Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which is now the world’s largest breast cancer organization and the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer with more than $1.3 billion invested to date. The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Global Promise Fund is dedicated to reaching underserved people in areas where breast cancer death rates are highest by increasing breast health awareness; improving access to detection and treatment; recruiting and funding medical staff; providing services to breast cancer survivors and their families, and recruiting and training lay ambassadors to promote breast cancer awareness and treatment messages in underserved areas around the globe. For more information about Susan G. Komen for the Cure, breast health or breast cancer, visit http://www.komen.org/ or call 1-877 GO KOMEN.

About JDC’s Women’s Health Empowerment Program (WHEP)
Established in 1995, JDC’s Women’s Health Empowerment Program (WHEP) is an innovative overseas public education movement that encourages the early detection of breast cancer, when it is treated more easily. The Program builds leadership, creates new services, such as support groups and hotlines, strengthens doctor to patient communication, and facilitates partnerships among government agencies, NGOs and the medical and health community. WHEP projects have been carried out in communities throughout the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Israel, and the Palestinian territories. In 2004, JDC partnered with Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, the world’s largest and most progressive grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists, to re-launch a program in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In 2006, WHEP was expanded to Hungary, and in 2007, it expanded into Russia. Following the First WHEP Regional Conference for former Yugoslavia (Sarajevo, April 2008), JDC and Komen decided to expand activities to Montenegro. WHEP Montenegro will be officially launched in May 2009.

JDC Volunteer Featured in Local Jewish Press

You can read all about it at "JDC provides local student with hands-on Israel experience" from the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey's Jewish Community Voice.

SAVE THE DATE...

Hold the date for a special lunch briefing on JDC and the Jewish world.

Thursday July 23, 2009
New York City

Further details to follow...

JDC’s Jewish Family Service Model Helps Single Mother in Hungary Overcome Hardship

The circumstances of poverty are as diverse as the people struggling to overcome them.

Consider Hanna, a 53-year-old mother of six who lives with her two youngest children—Jozsef (16), and Gabor (10)—and her mother, a Holocaust survivor.

Three years ago, Hanna’s husband died and her family was thrust into a spiraling period of hardship. She found herself involved in a complicated dispute over her home. While embroiled in this legal battle, she lost her job and was unable to keep up with the monthly bills. Eventually, the family was forced to move to a house in a small town outside of Budapest.

Hanna was grateful to find shelter for her children but the new house was a hovel—no drainage system, no running water, and no gas for heating or cooking. The family gathered wood and twigs to burn for heat. They washed their clothes in an old wash basin and heated the water on an open fire in front of the house. Hot meals were a rarity, and even affording school meals for her children was a problem. For months, Hanna’s inability to pay created problems with the school administration.

In a state of desperation, Hanna turned to the JDC-run Jaffe Jewish Family Service (JFS).

Based in Hungary, JFS is a JDC-supported umbrella organization that provides and coordinates comprehensive social support services and referrals for nearly 700 children. JFS extends the reach of existing social welfare programs so that they can provide additional programming and professional support to greater numbers of impoverished Jews. Through JFS, families like Hanna’s acquire greater access to community, local, and government resources to ensure that their most pressing needs are met.

When approached by Hanna, the JFS staff immediately arranged for her children to receive three hot meals a day. They also helped Hanna purchase the children’s school supplies and paid the family’s outstanding debts and the cost of medicines. A week after connecting with JFS, the family was invited to a clothing store where the children received new clothes.

Because JDC recognized the need and took action, JFS is able to help this and other families at risk. Several years ago, JDC commissioned a study that revealed the depth and reach of poverty among Jewish children and young families in Hungary, and indicated that the hope for a secure Jewish future was being undermined by the fact that many Jews were not receiving the support needed to secure their physical and psychological well-being. JDC created JFS to fill that gap. Thanks to the generosity of the Jaffe family of Tidewater, Virginia, this effective framework is addressing the complex and diverse economic, psychological, and communal challenges facing Jewish children and their families in the region.

JFS assistance goes well beyond an initial helping hand, as Hanna discovered. JFS staff contacted the JDC-run Foundation for Holocaust survivors about her mother. The foundation purchased a water heater and installed gas and draining systems in their house. They now have running water and can cook warm meals every day.

With basic living conditions secured, the children were then placed in an afterschool program organized by the JFS Mentor Program and the Olami summer day camp at the JDC-supported Balint JCC. Meanwhile, Hanna enrolled in a Parent Efficiency Development program (PED), a support program for troubled parents run by the JFS.

Now able to think beyond day-to-day survival, Hanna credits the program with helping her gain confidence and improved communication skills: “Thanks to the Jaffe JFS, I live a happier life and a more meaningful one.”

UPDATE FROM JERUSALEM

The latest update from Arnon Mantver, Director of JDC-Israel


Shalom all,

As the new Israeli government settles in, we continue to strengthen our partnerships with the relevant Ministers, Directors-General, and top senior staff of the Ministries of Welfare, Education, Labor and Industry, Health, Immigration and of course -- the Finance Ministry. Nor are we overlooking the Mayors, who are critical to implementation on the local level of national programs formulated with the Ministries. Finally, we continue to cultivate the business leadership in Israel – individual and corporate – who can provide professional and financial support to JDC programs. I'm pleased to share with you some recent developments related to our ongoing collaboration with Israel's top leadership:

A New Partnership with the Ministry of Education
Last week we had an excellent meeting with the new Director-General of the Education Ministry, Shimson Shoshani, who is returning to this position and is widely considered to have been one of the most effective leaders of the Ministry. The Ministry is seeking JDC's assistance in expanding programs for Ethiopian students and will be joining JDC in a major new initiative to attract and place top-notch teachers to Israel's periphery to raise the level of academic achievement in the countries outlying and poorest towns. The impetus for this program came from JDC Board members -- specifically the Strategic Visioning Committee -- which recommended that JDC-Israel "have an impact on the quality of education for the most vulnerable". Even during these difficult times of budget cuts – or perhaps especially during these times – JDC-Israel must be open to entering into new partnerships in order to maintain its' role as an innovator and developer of new social services. Happily, the 25% funding which JDC is required to put into the partnership in order to leverage 75% from the Government, is being provided by a private Israeli foundation.

Reaching the Clients in the Field: Netivot and Ofakim as an Example
This week the management team of JDC-Israel visited a number of JDC-Israel programs in Netivot and Ofakim, two of the Negev's poorest cities. In both cities, the Mayors detailed the impact which JDC programs are having on the vulnerable citizens in their cities – poor and frail elderly; immigrants who are struggling to integrate into Israeli society; Haredim, immigrants and veteran Israelis who have never succeeded in entering the workforce; families of young children and youth that are at risk of falling apart. In Ofakim we also met with leaders of the Haredi "Beit Yaakov" school system for girls, who are introducing vocational training into their seminaries (high school and post-high school frameworks) so that women graduates can be ready to enter the workforce with marketable skills and provide financial support for one of the poorest sectors within Israel society. These forays into the field are critical for JDC-Israel staff to assess how the decisions taken by us and our partners on the national level are applied on the local level, touching the lives of the people we aim to help.

Collaborating with Corporate Israel and a U.S. NGO to help Youth at Risk
The NFTE program was established in Israel by Ashalim, NFTE U.S.A., the First International Bank of Israel and MATAN- your way to give, to help youth who have dropped out of school to put their street smarts to work in the world of business. This month marks the third annual NFTE competition during which three groups of youth at risk who have been chosen as finalists, present their business idea and plan to a panel of top Israeli businesspeople. This year's business ideas include an ergonomically balanced tray for servers; a "smart" shopping cart that locates and prices food items in the supermarket; and a chip, which can be installed in a car's steering system to monitor reckless driving. Since inception of Ashalim programs to promote entrepreneurship 2,500 at-risk youth in over 40 locations have acquired skills which enable them to move with confidence in the business world.

Youths Give back to Society
When the AMEN program was first introduced, the rate of youth volunteerism in Israel was a lowly 9% but newly released statistics show that in a number of AMEN cities the rate has risen dramatically. Eight AMEN cities report that over 40% of their teens now volunteer on a regular basis. The intensity of these volunteer resources was brought home to me when I read about President Obama's Serve America Act, as it is clear that the future of social cohesion in communities around the world rests in no small part on people's willingness to voluntarily help others on an ongoing basis. Unfortunately we had to terminate support to five AMEN cities as part of 2009 cutbacks which translates into hundreds of youngsters who won't be enjoying a satisfying and ongoing volunteer experience but we hope to re-visit these cities if and when the financial situation allows.

Regards from Jerusalem,

Arnon