Yemin orde youth village
A month after the Carmel wildfire tore through the Yemin Orde youth village, destroying around 40% of the buildings, hundreds of students returned to their homes at the boarding school on Thursday. Yemin Orde is home to more than 500 young people from 16 countries, including 8 Darfuri
Yemin Orde Youth Village which was founded in 1953 to accommodate Holocaust orphans and immigrant children during the great immigration waves of the fifties. Until last week, the village was home to 480 immigrant orphans ages 6 – 19 from around the world. The majority of the children are
from Ethiopia, countries of the Former Soviet Union, and Brazil. For many of these children, Yemin Orde is their only home in Israel.
The village was severely damaged by a fire that raged in the Carmel Forest. The children and staff were safely evacuated to a sister village, accompanied by psychologists and social workers to help them work through their trauma. As the smoke cleared it became clear that village suffered widespread damage. Three children’s homes were burned to the ground as were 10 staff homes, offices and the library. Other buildings were damaged and the beautiful grounds were reduced to ashes. It is difficult to publish the tragic personal stories of the children and staff, many of whom are graduates of Yemin Orde and whose entire lives were destroyed when their homes burnt down in the Village.
Whilst the fire destroyed so much, the spirit of Yemin Orde is alive and the Village will return to be a safe home and warm environment for the children and graduates as soon as possible.
To Green Aid
Dear Hazel and Colin,
It was very nice to meet you and your family – we so appreciate your donation and your caring. You don’t know how important it is for us to have this support. Luckily we have a great team here who deeply care about the children. It was Lauri Friedman’s initiative to have the materials written about us, and she is also the writer amongst us, and she will send you the material you need. Racheli, is also a tremendous asset, and always we feel gratified for our staff – but especially at times like this, you see who is who. Our children here, deserve this…
We really hope that this will be the start of a meaningful relationship that will continue past the fire, and that we will be able to meet again under less stress, and share with you our vision – here or in England.
With my very best to both of you,
Susan Weijel
Director
Yemin Orde