British Shalom-Salaam Trust

Former BSST trustee Sylvia Cohen recently visited some of the projects BSST funds in south Tel Aviv: Unitaf, Microfy, and the Garden Library (Arteam). Sylvia sends this informative report:

"We met with representatives of all three of the projects at Unitaf:  Ofira from Unitaf, Dafna from Arteam and Mira and Leoni from Microfy.  The building we met in houses the day nursery provision, which we were able to look at, after which we walked over to the Garden Library (Arteam). 

"The first thing to say is that the enthusiasm, energy and professionalism with which the women discussed their work was impressive. This is particularly so given the context in which they are working.  South Tel Aviv is a deprived area, which has had little or no attention paid to it by either municipal or central government for years. The residents consist of impoverished indigenous residents (mainly Mizrachi Jews), migrant workers mainly from the Philippines (brought in during the first Intifada when cheap Palestinian labour was no longer available) and more recently African refugees. Because the only immigration policy Israel has is for Jewish people, children of migrants or refugees born in the country cannot be awarded citizenship; the children of migrant workers are supposed to be sent back to the parents’ country. Migrant workers must pay for a visa for five years – which is given to the employer, leaving the worker vulnerable to deportation if the visa is withdrawn.

"As far as refugees are concerned, only ten people out of those who have come over the border (60,000 up to 2012, though that has slowed down since) have been granted asylum – the first two hundred who came were kept in prison for two years. Now they are neither allowed to stay officially, nor are they sent back, or anywhere else for that matter.  

"In all of these groups, there are needy families who are searching for ways to survive. For the migrant workers and immigrants there is the added problem of being targeted by politicians as scapegoats for the deprivations the community in general suffers; a well-known divide and rule device that also protects the politicians from any repercussions. (In a community which has been ignored for years, a community centre is suddenly being built – for Jews only.)  It also leaves refugees, and within that group single mothers, particularly vulnerable with probably nowhere to turn within the indigenous community.   Having said that, the municipality does help a little – though it did sound as if it is minimal.

"So the three projects are working under very difficult circumstances. When we went to see the Garden Library for instance, which is set down the road from Unitaf, in a small strip of parkland, not only was it not very clean, with bins not emptied, but it seems that often the workers find drug users around, and often have to call the police in order to protect the children. Still, the Library is delightful, set under a kind of canopy with bookshelves around and small tables, where a number of parents and children were sitting and reading.

"During our discussions, we talked about the different emphases of the projects, and how they overlap.  Microfy trains women for sustainable work and employment and also needs care for the children of those women; Unitaf provides day nursery care for babies and toddlers and also after school care. The Arteam Garden Library, said Dafna, is a place for learning and reflection for children and their parents.  There are times when the women who are training at Microfy have difficulties with their older children’s behaviour, and workers from both Microfy and the Garden library will offer support, and help with intervening with the school, for instance. Thus there is plenty of opportunity for collaborative work, with referrals between the projects, and it is happening. They are also planning more collaborative programmes for 2018.

"We saw the day nurseries housed in the Unitaf building. All three of them were bright and clean with babies and toddlers clearly being well cared for by staff. Much more provision is needed – and planned - than there is at the moment.

"The work of projects does seem to be making some inroads into alleviation the dire conditions in which the target families are living. Indeed, Microfy has had some international recognition - just before our visit, Microfy had been one of two social initiative projects awarded the Shimon-Peres-Prize in Berlin. This was for collaborative work with the German NGO Migration Hub to facilitate international exchange of skills and experience working with refugees with a view to developing social entrepreneurial solutions.

"I cannot emphasise enough how impressive both the projects and the women who run them are: they need all the support they can get!"