24 hours in Neve Michael Children’s Home
Some 180 children and youth at risk reside at the Neve Michael Children's Home after they have been removed from their own homes. Here they face the daily challenge of coping, and getting over traumas and years of abuse
2:45 am
It is in the middle of the night and there is a knock on the door of the Emergency Crisis Center in Neve Michael Children’s Home in Pardes Hana. A social worker is standing there holding the hand of M. This young child’s father murdered his mother in front of him six hours ago. M. saw his father take a knife and cut his mother’s throat. M., an only child, is only four-years-old . His two brothers and two sisters died five years ago during the journey from Ethiopia to Israel.
We take M. and find him a warm, cozy bed. He doesn’t stop crying as we help him to shower and to put on clean pajamas. M. finally falls asleep in the comforting arms of Leah, our National Service volunteer.
Over 300 children have crossed the threshold of the Emergency Crisis Center since the doors were opened in August 2000.
6:30 am
Wake up call for over 180 children at risk, ages 4-18 who reside in Neve Michael Children’s Home. Teeth are brushed, hair is combed and backpacks are ready. The children have breakfast in their family units, together with a couple and their own biological family and get ready to leave. The younger children get taken to nursery and kindergarten by their “parents” from the family units. We have an on-site elementary school and the older children go to the various educational facilities in the area.
M. is still sleeping.
8:30 am
M. wakes up to a confused painful reality. Our professional staff, together with Leah, slowly guide him through the preparations of the morning. He starts crying for his mother.
10:00 am
There is a meeting in the office of David Frydman, the Director of Neve Michael Children’s Home, together with representatives of the Welfare Department and Child and Youth Services. We are given the final official approval to open the first Teenage Girl Emergency Crisis Center in Israel. The Teenage Crisis Center will serve teenage girls from the ages of 13-18 who have suffered mental/physical/sexual abuse or who are in emotional distress. From studying the work done in this field, it is clear that the current method of treating teenagers together with younger children or older adults, does not provide a satisfactory solution, and it is more effective to deal with them and their specific problems as a separate group. We estimate that there will be 15 teenagers at a time in the Teenage Crisis Center, with an expected 30 teenagers a year.
12:00 pm
M. is settling down. He doesn’t want to speak to anyone and remains with Leah. He didn’t eat anything for breakfast.
1:00 pm-3:00 pm
The children begin arriving home from school. Lunch is served in the main dining room and soon the wonderful aromas of food prepared by Danny, our cook, welcome the hungry children.
3:00 pm-5:00 pm
Homework, tutorial lessons, swimming, therapy, basketball, bicycle riding and more…
5:00 pm
A. has been in Neve Michael Children’s Home for almost a month. She is seven-years-old and was removed from her home by a court order because for the past three years she was sexually abused by her father. Her mother came to visit her today for the first time since they were separated.
7:00 pm
Something happened to A. after she saw her mother. She was uneasy and nervous. We didn’t understand what effect her mother’s visit had on her.
9:00 pm
A few hours later A. came out of her room covered in her own feces. After cleaning her up, we were quite perplexed by this abnormal behavior. We consulted our Pet Therapist, who was treating A., who informed us that A. loved skunks and related to them. We were told that A. used feces as protection from her father while living at home. Seeing her mother again triggered this horrible act.
10:00 pm
Most of the children are in bed.
M. and A. cannot fall asleep.
Each child at Neve Michael has a story. Some can express it in words, while others can only convey their past traumas through the haunted looks in their eyes. In many cases, these unfortunate children suffered physical and/or mental abuse and whose parents are afflicted with mental illness or drug and alcohol addictions. The Neve Michael Children’s Home assists children at risk from all over Israel and provides them with the love, warmth, guidance and that special “human touch” that is so needed to sustain normal growth.
Please contact Hava Levene If you would like to come and visit the children at Neve Michael Children's Home and to learn more about helping children-at-risk in Israel.
Hava Levene hava@nevemichael.com
Mobile: 972-524-239-545
