HOLY LAND BOOK - Draft

Today, it is estimated that some 40,000 refugees reside in Israel, primarily in the Greater Tel Aviv area. To
respond to the needs of this community, the municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo created Mesila, a municipal agency
mandated to deal exclusively with foreign worker and refugee issues. The attainment of proper daycare
became one of Mesila’s prime goals because until recently, there were few alternatives available for the
children of working refugee parents. In 2005, together with the Municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo and a private
donor, Mesila established UNITAF, the first state-of-the-art daycare center for refugee and foreign workers’
children. In 2008, a second UNITAF Center was opened, and in 2010, an after- school program for children
aged 3-6 was added. In 2011, the third UNITAF Center was opened.
UNITAF constitutes a unique work model that stresses what is common between Israeli culture and that of the
immigrants and refugees, and tries to bridge the differences through educational-therapeutic discussions. At
the UNITAF centers, children are cared for by women from the foreign community, who have been especially
trained by Israeli educators to run the daycare facilities in a professional and compassionate manner, while
still preserving the cultural heritage of the children. The environment is pleasant and learning-conducive.
Each child receives three nutritious meals a day, individual attention, mental stimulation and emotional
support. Experts are on hand to diagnose potential developmental problems and to arrange treatment if
necessary and give especial attention to the children that arrived recently from Sinai. Care is given to create a
pluralistic atmosphere where children from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds can spend long hours
together and flourish. The trained nannies run the business independently, but are obliged to meet up with
Israeli standards and criteria, and the Israeli social worker that maintain the logistics as well as the individual
treatment of each child and family keep a frequent dialogue with the nanny in order to make sure they are
kept.Today, 350 children are being cared for in all of UNITAF brunches. Over the last ten years, more than
1600 children have benefitted from the services of UNITAF. There are still hundreds of children on waiting
lists for Unitaf’s day care centers and many babysitters are eager to work with the organization. But for now,
the group’s budget – aside from the municipality-donated locations – is entirely dependent on private
donations and there is no money to open new centers.
•To donate or volunteer for UNITAF, visit www.unitaf.org.il
•Email info@unitaf.org.il
•Their main offices are located at 108 Levinsky Street, Tel Aviv
Elifelet – Citizens for Refugee Children
Elifelet was founded in the Spring of 2012, following a hate crime in Tel Aviv, when ‘Molotov cocktails’ (glass
bottles containing explosives) were thrown into a daycare center at night, while 21 refugee children were
asleep (miraculously, they were physically unhurt). Immediately following the attack, they raised funds and
drafted friends who volunteered to rebuild the burnt center. They realized the extent of the physical and
emotional distress faced by approximately 3,000 refugee children whose parents fled from Eritrea and Sudan
and are now living in South Tel Aviv under extremely difficult conditions. With the help of about 200
volunteers and many donors, Elifelet has adopted one daycare center after another, built therapeutic
afternoon clubs for older children and rescued hundreds of children from a vicious cycle of ongoing physical
and emotional distress.
•Visit http://www.elifelet.org/en for more information.
•Volunteer to help or ask if donations can be made!
The Holy Land - The Essential Guide to Living in Israel 77