Sep 10, 2024

Innovative Summer School Camp Helps Prepare Displaced Israeli Children Return Home

The Summer of Tkuma (Rebirth), an innovative summer camp, helped prepare nearly 11,000 displaced Israeli children to return home. Supported by Federation and our overseas partners and developed by Habaita (Homeward), the six-week program welcomed fourth- through 12th-grade students from the western Negev, enabling them to reconnect with their schoolmates and teachers, engage in both studies and recreation — and just be kids again! Teenagers, a group exhibiting a rise in risky behaviors since their displacement, were provided with designated spaces to spend time with their peers and social workers. The summer pilot program helped reinvigorate these communities after suffering such tremendous loss. Habaita is now recruiting and training 400 new teachers and counselors to be placed in the north and south to improve education, bring back displaced citizens and attract new residents.