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Youth Environmental Leadership
Program, Neve Chemed ,
For the Shomera
Update in Hebrew click here
. Gardening
and Ecological Awareness in Beit Shemesh Shomera's organic gardening and environmental studies
course has opened in Beit Shemesh. The course objective is to sensitize
ecologically-oriented residents to the environmental challenges pertinent to
the city of Beit Shemesh. The participants will participate in activities that
enhance the appearance of their immediate vicinities, will learn the
fundamentals of organic gardening and will initiate community projects
involving a variety of populations and groups living in Beit Shemesh.
From left to right: Yael Erlich – Director of the “Eretz Sviva Umoreshet” Department in the Community Centers Network, Avivit Oren Levi - Director of the Meirhoff Community Center in Beit Shemesh, Nitzah Karniel Levi –Director of the Education and Public Relations Department of the Sorek division of the Ministry for the Protection of the Environment. Partners in the project include: the Education and
Public Relations Department, the Ministry for the Protection of the Environment
for the Sorek District, the Meirhoff Community Center in Beit Shemesh, the
Ministry for the Protection of the Environment for the district of Jerusalem,
the Community Center Network of Beit Shemesh, the Department for “Eretz
Usviva Umoreshet” (Land, Environment and Heritage) within the Organization of
Community Centers. Environmental Consumerism, Good Nutrition in Har Nof's
Elementary School This
year saw the start of a new Environmental Leadership program for girls in
grades 7 and 8, at the Har Nof elementary school. The program exposes students
to environmentally related life sciences, such as green consumerism, good
nutritional habits, and the observing and reporting on natural phenomena. As the oldest students in the school, the girls
initiate and assume responsibility for. school-wide projects. One
example is the bulletin board created from recycled paper that covers an entire wall at the
entrance to the school. The bulletin board features projects and activities implemented
by the various grades and raises environmental awareness about issues
affecting the school both within and without. Looking
for a Good Neighbor Next to Shomera's offices, for rent, an organized
office space, 50 square meters (approximately), in Mercaz Shatner 7, Givat
Shaul, Jerusalem. For more information, contact Mashiach at cell phone: (052) 860-0919
Shomera applauds the decision made by Jerusalem’s
mayor, Uri Lupolianski, to work with the environmental organizations on
Jerusalem's urban planning, in particular as it relates to the city center,
and to oppose the Safdie Plan. The winter season has begun. The first rains have
fallen and the Jerusalem Forest is in bloom. Brown topsoil is filling up with green
vegetation, saffron and cyclamen. This is the Forest's most beautiful season.
We invite you to enter Jerusalem’s unique forest park and to join Shomera
hikes through the Forest, to visit the Shomera Education Center (located in
the Forest) or to simply stroll through the Forest on your own and enjoy. For more details, please contact the office at
02-6536883.
Environmental
Leadership Course for Special Needs and At- Risk Youth Shomera runs Environmental
Leadership courses for youth-at-risk and youth with special needs. The
course's objective is to teach new practical skills, to engage the
participants in team-work and to create opportunities for the youth to
contribute to the broader community. In addition, participants are exposed to
environmentalism and involved in projects which benefit their immediate
surroundings, thus strengthening their self-image and paving the way for
their potential development as “Environmental Leaders”. An example of one such program is
the Environmental Leadership course that recently opened in the Ezrat Torah
neighborhood of Jerusalem. The course, which takes place in the Neve Chemed
Community Center, includes a group of 13 year old, ultra-orthodox boys, who
have experienced difficulty integrating into the school system.
The trainees learn the rudiments of
gardening, including gardening techniques and about environmental
considerations and concerns. The trainees learned which plants thrive in
planters under various sun and shade conditions, and then prepared planters
with the appropriate mix of flowers. Their first project focused on preparing
and distributing the fruits of their labor to residents in the surrounding
neighborhood. At a later stage in the project, trainees will adopt a plot in
the neighborhood where they will plant and maintain a flower and herb garden.
At the end of the course, graduates will receive certificates of completion. The planters already decorate many
buildings and future projects are expected to noticeably upgrade the neighborhood
.From past experience we have seen how much the residents' praise and
appreciation strengthens the trainees self-confidence. In addition, once the boys have acquired
basic gardening and maintenance skills we expect to find them opportunities
for work within the neighborhood. The
chance to earn money while providing a service will further serve to bolster
their development and self-esteem. Partners in the
project include the Steinhardt Family Foundation, the Neve Chemed Community
Center, the “Talmud Torah Limudei Hashem” school and the Chen Chareidi
Department within the Social Department of the Jerusalem
Municipality.
The Talmud in the Tractate of
Taanit tells of Rav Huna, who used to personally
inspect all the walls in the Babylonian town of Rabbi
Arye Carmel OBM says "We see that the Rabbis considered the safety of
the environment as well within the province of the Torah. It was seen by them
as so vitally important that it could not be entrusted to any minor official.
Responsibility for it was assumed by no less a personality than the greatest
sage of the generation." ______________________________________________________ Rav Huna lived in
Do You Want To Be Involved? Shomera
needs volunteers to lead hikes in the Jerusalem Forest and in the neighborhoods
of Jerusalem, counselors for art and other workshops for children, lecturers
on nature and the environment, as well as volunteers to assist in maintaining
the Shomera Center in the Jerusalem Forest and to man informational booths. Weekly Activities: Restoration
and development of the Shomera Center in the Jerusalem Forest – every Tuesday,
07:00-11:00 under the supervision of Tzachi Even-Or. Community
Gardening, San-Simon – every Friday, 07:00-11:00. For more information
contact: Shimrit 02-5670965.
Do You Want to Contribute? Shomera's
activites are based on private donations. Donations can be specified
for an individual project or can be for the organization as a whole.
Shomera Lesviva Tova has been approved by the Non-profit Registry, has been
recognized as a public institution for tax deduction purposes, and given bookkeeping
approval by the income tax authorities US tax deductible contributions may be sent to PEF Israel
Endowment Funds, Inc. 317 Madison Avenue, Suite 607, New York, NY 10017 with
a recommendation that it be used for Shomera. For any questions regarding
contributions, please call us at (02) 653 6883 or e-mail the director at carmi@shomera.org
For additional information,
please visit our website at www.shomera.org.il or contact us at our office: If you wish to be removed from the Shomera distribution list,
please click here .
Shomera
activities are supported by the Etz Hatamar Foundation, the Gimprich Family
Foundation, the Green Environment Fund, the Jewish National Fund, the Kagan
Foundation, the Steinhardt Family Foundation, the Israel Association of
Community Centers, the Jerusalem Municipality and the Ministry of the
Environment. Informational
links which are in PDF format can be viewed via Adobe Acrobat
Reader. To
download the program for free, click on
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