The need: resilience-strengthening activity as part of a comprehensive support
continuous contact with the children to reinforce their sense of belonging and meaning. The cadets encouraged the children to participate in a variety of resilience-strengthening activities. Mentors from the Aharai organization offered children aged 15-18 physical fitness groups and activities.
The response: developing an array of resilience-building group activities This response included a variety of resilience-strengthening activities for children and youth in formal and informal education, all days of the week, at resilience complexes, in hotels and in schools – in coordination with the local authority representatives. Diverse resilience activity channels were selected: physiological, social, emotional, cognitive, leadership and value oriented, according to the “Gesher” model’s professional approach. 5 Activities were conducted by professional organizations, and supported by pre-military preparatory program cadets and staff from “Aharai!” organization. The response: integration of resilience-strengthening activities in formal and informal education Cooperation with school principals and local authority representatives at the evacuation centers led to the integration of resilience-strengthening activities in the school day and/or in after-school activities at the resilience complex or in the hotels. The response: strengthening communal resilience The complexes served as an inviting and enabling meeting place for the various localities staying at the evacuation centers. The complex team helped organize and conduct activities at the complex, including meetings for parents, meetings for officials from the localities (such as roundtable meetings), and events for specific localities such as Hannukah events, or a local authority fair, according to each particular community’s traditions. These meetings contributed to a sense of “home away from home” and to strengthening communal resilience.
The need: suitable infrastructures to operate schools at the evacuation centers
The response: building physical infrastructures to operate schools At the Ministry of Education’s request, the Yeladenu Operation built a school for evacuee children with special needs in grades one through twelve. The school was part of the Eilat Shachar Center and was active between November 2023 and February 2024. From March to April 2024, a high school from the Eshkol Regional Council used the same facility. At the Dead Sea evacuation center, during daytime hours we provided a space to house two classrooms for a high school for youth from Sderot, between November 2023 and February 2024.
The need: infrastructure for data collection, control and consolidation tools for the local authorities
The response: building the organizational infrastructure The Yeladenu Operation headquarters in Beit Yehoshua and teams at the evacuation centers in Eilat and the Dead Sea operated flexibly and in coordination to execute the Operation’s objectives. The response: designing and developing a monitoring system A dedicated system was set up to measure and analyze the Operation’s activities, based on the Monday platform. The team ensured that data entry, reporting and data-based decision-making tasks were performed on a regular basis. The response: evaluation and assessment processes Data and know-how for the various activities were collected continuously, and quantitative and qualitative evaluation and assessment processes were performed, such as designated periodical after-action reviews, drawing conclusions and feedback to examine effectiveness and impact. The Operation’s activities were improved accordingly.
The need: getting children and youth out of their hotel rooms
The response: training over a hundred mentors according to the “big brother” model Cadets from the pre-military preparatory programs “Five Fingers” (in Eilat) and “Ein Prat” (at the Dead Sea) accompanied the children and youth at activities at the complex and the hotels. They gave them personal attention, helped build interpersonal relationships, and remained in constant,
5 The model’s full name is ”Gesher Meachad”. It was developed by Prof. Mooli Lahad and Dr. Ofra Ayalon (1992), and includes six possible coping components during crisis situations. For further information see the section “Professional Approach” in this document below.
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