AJW Editor and Publisher Mordecai Specktor is in Israel this week and today he toured the Yemin Orde Youth Village, south of Haifa. He describes the program as “an inspiring story of building self-esteem and creating future leaders.”
Susan Weijel, the director of outreach and development for Yemin Orde, describes the place as “a garden of late bloomers.”
Yemin Orde Youth Village was founded in 1953 by the British Friends of Youth Aliyah, and is named for British Major General Orde Charles Wingate, an ardent supporter of the Zionist cause and influential force in the formation of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). In the aftermath of World War II, the 77-acre village atop Mount Carmel provided a safe haven for Holocaust orphans and immigrant children.
Today, Yemin Orde Youth Village is home to children from around the world who have suffered trauma in their lives — from isolation and neglect, to abandonment and extreme poverty. The village has welcomed children from North Africa, Iran, India, Yemen, Eastern Europe and South America.
The campus includes a high school offering a complete academic curriculum; an art and music center, a large, modern computer center; a fully equipped carpentry shop; a central dining room; library; and sports facilities.
Specktor will be writing about his visit to Israel in the July 5 edition, and will write more extensively about Yemin Orde in a future edition.
For information, visit: www.yeminorde.org.
