Karmiel Children's Village is a safe and loving home for children and youths in danger, who are sent there because of difficult social-economic background as well as families with problems of parenting, violence, crime, drugs and other difficult circumstances. Most of the children are sent by the parents together with the social services but about 20% of them were taken away by court order.
Right now, there are 226 students at the Village ages 5 to 18. The children live in small houses in a family environment which consists of a carefully chosen couple and their biological children who share a big house with about 12 of the village children. The couple serves as 'foster parents' to all the children in the house in the hope that they will serve as role models to them for life.
Most of the children attend the various schools in Karmiel: the new comers study in the village multi-age class during their first year at the village until they catch up with their age group educational level and fill in the gaps in their knowledge and abilities.
The Village is part-funded by the government, but since the needs are always greater than the money allocated and since the state budget cares only for basic needs, the Association for the Children Village raises money for further development of the children all rounded personality as well as for special projects.
Pictures of the Children's Playground Donated By HabAid
Karmiel Children's Village
This Year's project that HabAid will be championing for The Karmiel Children's Village is
Treatment for children who have been involved with sex abuse.
It has always been know that some of the children who come to the Village have been exposed to sex abuse or to sex misbehavior in different ways and experiences.
Our data shows that 12 out of 232 children in the 2013-2014 school year have experienced sexual abuse. For example we have a sister and two brothers who came to the Village after the father in a single parent family has raped the daughter in front of her brothers.
Up to now the Rashi Fund has been able to give professional advice as to how to help the children that were involved in sexual abuse, but it became obvious that this is not enough, Therefore, last year the Village invested in a professional investigation into this subject. The body that was used is ELEM, Youth in Distress, an organization which was founded in order to assist youth at risk.
One of the ELEM projects is aimed at the prevention and treatment of sexual abuse amongst children. Since they specialize in that area they were asked to survey the children who came to the Village from this background and their findings was shocking to us all:
- 2 children were diagnosed as two dangerous to themselves and to others and therefore will have to leave the Village for special counselling.
- 8 children were diagnosed as needing treatment either because they were sexually abused or because they have abused others
- 1 child has not yet completed the tests yet but may also need specialist treatment
ELEM have recommended a two year treatment for these 8 (or maybe 9) children at the cost of £2,220 per child.
Therefore the costs involved in this project are as follow:
Treatment per child for two years = £ 2,220
Treatment for 8 children for two years = £17,760
Treatment for 9 children for two years = £19,980
It is a well known fact that many people that have themselves been victims of sexual abuse themselves become abusers themselves. It is therefore vital that professional treatment is provided to these young victims to end this vicious cycle. It is with in mind that the Village and its friends at the Association for the Karmiel Children Village have decided to make this project our main goal for the 2016-2018 school years.