Letter of Recommendation from the Soldier Teacher in the Smadar Family Club
By: Shir – Soldier Teacher 29.11.2010
A letter from the heart......
My name is Shir, I am currently serving as a Soldier Teacher in the "Family Clubs" in Ashkelon.
Part of my job is to help children in the "Smadar" Family Club during the morning, within the framework of their school.
The children receive educational and emotional assistance; help with preparation for tests, with their class work and their homework, with their social skills, and more.
After I help them at the school during the morning, I go to the Family Club where I act as a big sister to these children, I am a sympathetic ear for them, and I lead social and education activities. The children come to the Family Club directly after school, where a homemade meal awaits them. After lunch the staff helps each of the children with their homework, and when they are finished they go outside for some free play time.
After their free time the staff run social/ creative activities for the children. There are many different activities, and much time, preparations and planning have been put into them.
Immediately after the activities the children eat a warm dinner. Toward the end of the day we hold a daily summarizing conversation, in which we mention and praise the children who behaved well during the day, in order to boost their self esteem and self image.
The Family Club serves as the children's second home, where they receive meals, and the warmth and love that they do not receive from their families.
As someone who accompanies the children throughout their day, I can see the positive effect that the Family Club has on them, this is seen in the improvements in their studies and in the changes in the patterns of their behaviour.
Without a doubt, the Family Club is a landmark in the children's lives, it provides them with all their needs in order to create suitable foundations.
We welcome any possible contributions which will ensure the future of the club and of course the future of the children!
Sincerely,
Shir, the Soldier Teacher
Smadar Family Club
Letter of Recommendation – from a "Smadar" Family Club volunteer
By: Ruthy Menashe 29.11.2010
My name is Ruthy and I am a volunteer, in the course of my National Service, in the "Smadar" Family Club.
I contribute to the Family Club by helping the children after school, with their homework, with games and by trying to give them the feeling of being in a warm family environment – something that they do not always get at home.
These children come from welfare families, who cannot always provide them with their basic needs, and in the Family Clubs we try to fill this space and give the children the attention and warmth that they need.
This treatment is expressed, amongst other things, by sitting with them during meal times, helping them with their homework and other school assignments.
During their break I go outside with the children and play with them, and when we go back inside I help them with the club activities. At the end of the day we sit down to eat a warm dinner, and each child summarizes his day.
My volunteer work in the Family Club is very important to me and I feel that I am making a big contribution. The children crave every source of warmth, love and resources, in every field.
As someone looking in from the outside, I am aware that every staff member of the Family Club devote their time and all of their strength to the Family Club children, and this can be seen by the support that they give them daily, both academically and emotionally – support that these children so desperately need!
The Family Club and the children need any every bit of help and generosity that they can get...
Sincerely,
Ruthy Menashe
Sherut Leumi Volunteer
"Smadar" Family Club Letter (25.11.2010)
Work from the heart and the soul!!
We, the Family Club staff: Dikla – the Guide and Shoshi – the House Mother, come to our second home, and that of the children, every day – the 'Smadar" Family Club.
The Club is defined as a Family Club and that is how we behave. We are like a real family, with "parents" (the Guide and the House Mother), a big sister (a soldier or national service volunteer) and of course 15 lovely children. Just like at home, the Family Club has a sitting corner, a games corner, a learning corner, a kitchen, a dining room and more. All of the children love to come to the Family Club and it is very important to us to allow them to feel that they are in a good place, a warm and safe home.
The children come straight from school and put their bags on the floor in the corner, because they do not have private lockers where they can place them.
During the afternoon the children do their homework, eat a warm lunch and they occupy themselves in a number of corners of the Family Club.
The children go outside to the big garden on their break, but they choose to play in the garden of the next door kindergarten, because there they have playground equipment suitable for children, and our garden is boring. It is important to us that the children are given enough time outside of the Family Club, but we cannot leave them outside for too long, because there is no light in the garden, and they cannot stay outside in the dark.
We take care to make up for what the children are lacking, as far as possible, and to provide them with the tools they need to enable them to cope better in their lives.
As far as we are concerned, each child must be treated warmly and lovingly, and it is clear to us that if these children were not in a supportive framework like the Family Club, they would probably be lost, and would be classified as at a real risk.
If is very important that the Family Club remains open and stable – because this is the only stable, supportive and true place that these children have.
