Netiv HaAsara in the Gaza Envelope – Youth Club
The Children’s Friends Foundation has been providing aid to young people in the south and the Gaza envelope for several years, through a variety of different acquisitions and activities. Following an emotional appeal to us, the foundation has decided to equip the youth club of Netiv HaAsara for the sake of the children and youth there. Nativ HaAsara is a moshav that was re-founded in 1982 after the evacuation of the original settlement from the Sinai Peninsula. The settlement was re-established and rebuilt near Holot Zikim. The settlement is made up of 70 founding families who experienced the evacuation together and understood even then the power of community and mutual commitment. Today the moshav numbers some 260 families with close to 1000 residents; most of the community is based on the same 70 families and returning children who chose to build their homes and raise their children in the settlement, and of course other residents who have joined over the years and chose to build or expand their home / rent a home in the community, and are now an integral part of it.
Since 2001, the moshav has been a border-fence community, one of the most threatened settlements in the Gaza Envelope, which is under constant threat of terrorist activities from the Gaza Strip and unfortunately, a very large part of the population suffers from post-trauma and anxiety. The ever-increasing threats accompany and challenge all segments of the population. Over the years, they have suffered hundreds of missiles, infiltrations, a tunnel found during the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict, explosive kites and balloons, drones, and more.
About five years ago we began to recognize the fact that the community youth are among the victims of the existing situation, we realized how important connections and solidarity are for their resilience, and we decided to try to empower the youth through diverse, valuable and unifying activities and the establishment of a new, attractive and respectable youth club to serve the community’s young people in both normal times and in emergencies, as well as provide a regional site for members from the area *.
In light of the special situation of the community and upon completion of the renovation work in the club, The Foundation has purchased a wide range of leisure equipment for different ages: Cozy and spacious seating areas for activities and gatherings, an air hockey table, computers and computer games, game consoles and screens. The Foundation has decided to adopt the youth of Nativ HaAsara, in the future it will also provide excursions from the moshav for long-distance nature walks, and field trips for fresh air and relaxation, during both difficult days and peaceful days.
