The Children of Yemin Orde:
Individual Profiles
Each child at Yemin Orde has a story to tell - sadly many tell of hardship, suffering and loss. Yemin Orde takes children from every continent, whose world has been torn to pieces in their minds, and gives them a home, a foundation and a new beginning.
Here are stories of some of the children:
Ethiopian Boy
“Josef” immigrated to Israel in 1982 from Ethiopia, making the difficult and dangerous journey through Sudan. During the journey, two of his brothers died, including one who was shot in his mother's arms by Sudanese soldiers. Four years later in Israel, his father died; and then in 1991, his brother was killed in a gang fight. Embittered and violent, Josef was referred to Yemin Orde in the 9th grade. For some time, he was depressed and alone and often spoke of suicide. After a prolonged period of counseling, he began to lead a normal life at Yemin Orde and finally completed his studies successfully. His plans are now to enter the army (as is required of most young men in Israel) and there is no reason why he will not succeed very well.
Brazilian Girl
Gali comes from a rural area in Manos Brazil. Her parents are divorced and although she lived with her father she would spend much of her time with her grandmother as her father traveled a lot. Gali came to the Village in 2002 at age 15. At first, she did not want to come to Israel, but her father insisted because he had to travel so often and he was worried about her because they lived in a dangerous neighborhood. Gali had always assumed that she was Jewish as her father was Jewish and he would take her to synagogue on Shabbatot and Chagim, but she was willing to undertake formal conversion through Yemin Orde's Shv’ut Am program. Gali has decided not to return to Brazil and is busy planning her future educational studies in Israel.
Russian Boy
“Igor” arrived in Israel from the Former Soviet Union while he was in the 10th grade under the auspices of the “Na’aleh” program. Like many children at Yemin Orde, he arrived severely traumatized - in Russia his sister had been raped before his eyes while their parents were out of the house. Because of that tragic event, he became very anti-social and developed many psychological problems - but after some time at Yemin Orde a noticeable change in his behavior occurred. Not officially Jewish prior to his arrival in Israel, Igor was able to complete a very intense Jewish identity program sponsored by Yemin Orde. He graduated from the High School in Yemin Orde at an outstanding level and his plans now are to enroll in a Captain’s course after joining the Israeli Navy.
The Mayah Children
The Mayah Project is a program that, under a special agreement with the Russian authorities, is bringing up to 100 orphans of Jewish descent from the former Soviet Union to their new home in Israel at Yemin Orde. So far, 57 children ages 6 - 18 are now living at the Village. These children were languishing in orphanages in Siberia, Belarus and the Ukraine; sleeping 16 to a room, often severely malnourished, with no hope of getting an education or chance of successful future lives.
The Mayah Children live at Yemin Orde year round. The older children attend the high school in the Village, while the younger children attend local elementary schools.