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February 14, 2003
Helping Israeli kids cope
Organization gives kids tools to deal with trauma.
KYLE BERGER REPORTER
Just moments after a suicide bomber detonates himself in a popular
Jerusalem social district, well-trained Israeli emergency services
rush to the scene and rescue efforts begin. Some of the young victims
can't be saved, while many other injuries are treated at the scene
or in hospital. Everyone else in the area at the time of the explosion
is considered to be a survivor of a terrorist attack.
To Yeshara Gold, however, it is not that simple.
For every life taken in a terror attack, there are dozens of young
friends, brothers, sisters or classmates who have no outlet for
dealing with their loss. They are people that Gold describes as
having "fallen between the stretchers."
These young victims of terror are the reason that she founded the
organization Kids for Kids.
"These kids are a part of the Israeli population that [has]
been virtually ignored by the government and other private institutions,"
she explained of the purpose behind Kids for Kids. "They might
be a kid that was on the bus but not physically wounded, a kid that
missed the bus that their friend was on, a child whose extended
family was killed or any kid who lost a friend or a classmate."
While touring around North America to promote Kids for Kids, Gold
stopped in Vancouver and spoke at Schara Tzedeck Synagogue Feb.
9. She explained some of the many programs that the Israeli organization
runs, such as fund-raising, hospital visits and counselling. Among
those services, her biggest emphasis was on a program called Footsteps.
Aimed at youth aged 16 to 18, Footsteps is a multi-faceted program
that runs for a minimum five-month period. During that time, with
the help of 20- to 24-year-old counsellors who have been trained
by Kids for Kids, the youth participate in activities and sessions
that help them deal with the heavy burden of the trauma they suffered.
The goal, Gold explained, is that by the end of the program, the
participants have the necessary tools to deal with their own experiences
while having the strength to help others who may not.
"It's like [Sept. 11] every day in Israel and [the youth] never
know when they walk out their front door if they're going to come
back or if their mother, sister, brother or friend is coming back,"
she said. "They need to be equipped with the tools to be able
to deal with this on a daily basis."
Gold said that after completing the program, the first Footsteps
group ended up using their own strength to help a group of younger
children.
"After our kids worked on themselves, they came to a point
where they could offer their strength to others," she said.
"So they took on another group of 14- or 15-year-olds and did
a 10-week program for these younger kids."
The Footsteps participants also spent 10 days visiting Diaspora
youth in South Africa as an outreach program for Kids for Kids.
Gold said that it is important for relationships to develop between
Israeli and Diaspora Jews so that everyone can fully understand
what is going on in Israel.
"People don't know what is really happening in Israel,"
she said. "We're doing whatever we can to get the word out
and then we're hoping for a response from that understanding."
Gold founded Kids for Kids just a few months after the intifada
broke out in September 2000.
"That December, I remember that there was a mother and father
[who were] shot and killed, leaving six orphans and that just threw
me for a loop," she said. "There was a saying that if
you are not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. I
really accepted that for myself and that's when I basically [visualized]
the whole concept of Kids for Kids."
Canadians can make tax-deductible donations to Kids for Kids by
sending a cheque to Meoroth, c/o Hoffman, 98 Laurelcrest Ave., Toronto,
Ont., M3H 2B3. More information about Kids for Kids or the Footsteps
program can be found online at www.kidsforkids.net
or by e-mailing Gold at [email protected].
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