A total of 280 Ethiopian teens from the northern town of Kiryat Bialik participated in a wide range of summer activities that were funded by the Rochlin foundation in partnership with ‘Galila’ and the Municipality of Kiryat Bialik.
These teens, some of whom are recent arrivals to the town as part of the new immigrant “Falashmura” Ethiopian community, all come from impoverished families who lack the basic capability of providing these growing kids with any educational and social enrichment activities. Particularly during the summer months, many of these teens spend their inactive days loitering around the town and this negative situation invariably leads to vagrancy and, in some cases, criminal actions.
Hundreds of Ethiopian teens from the community were able to participate in so many tailored-activities, under the supervision and guidance of the local community center.
The enrichment activities experienced by these teens during the months of July-August 2012 included day trips to: Superland in Rishon Le-Zion; the Yamit Water Park in Holon; the Hof Gai beach in lake Kineret and a full-day hike in the Galilee’s Nahal Kziv. In addition, they participated in specially-arranged sports tournaments including table-tennis, volleyball, paintball and bowling. They also enjoyed numerous indoor activities including arts & crafts, computer sessions. The closing event of this wonderful program was a beach-party near Akko.
‘Galila’ – the Northern Galilee Development Foundation is most grateful to the Rochlin foundation for the generous gift towards the costs of these activities. Without This philanthropic partnership, the activities for these Ethiopian teens would have been very limited.