Alon, aged 10
Alon first arrived at the Neve Ofer After-School Activity Center in September 2010. He is the eldest child in a family of four – a mother and three young children. Alon's father has remarried and lives far away. He is not in regular contact with his children and does not provide for them financially. Alon's mother struggles to hold on to long-term employment and is in and out of part-time jobs. Alon has suffered from problems in his emotional and social development, and used to display disruptive behaviors at school. He has had to repeat 1st grade twice and still
struggles to keep up with his peers due to the slow development of his reading and writing skills. Since he began to participate in the after-school activities his teachers have reported significant improvements in both his academic performance and his behavior at school. Alon's mother attributes these improvements to the hot meals he receives at Neve Ofer. Before
coming to the After-School Activity Centre, Alon regularly went a day without a nutritious meal. Indeed, it is apparent that the hot meal element, is most important thing to Alon at Neve Ofer; when he arrives at the Center he always looks enthusiastic and excited to eat. After hearing about his family's hardship, the staff at Neve Ofer packs up some of the left-overs each day to
send home with Alon for his family.
Jacob, aged 10
Jacob was born in Ethiopia and made the long journey to Israel with his family when he was only three years old. Sadly, when Jacob was seven years old his father died suddenly, leaving his mother to raise the family alone. The family now lives in Jaffa. Their apartment is very small and Jacob has to share his bedroom with three younger siblings. Unfortunately, Jacob's mother suffers from chronic health issues and had to give up her job in 2010. She had already struggled to feed her large family when she was receiving a salary; now that the family are dependant upon benefits, they can barely survive. Each day, when Jacob arrives at the Pahad Yitzhak after-school activity center, he is hungry. Often he has not eaten anything since the previous evening. He is always preoccupied with food and even if he has had enough to eat, he worries about whether the rest of his family is
hungry. At the age of ten, Jacob feels responsible for the wellbeing of his whole family. Despite his worries, the Pahad Yitzhak After-School Activity Center is a place where Jacob can fill his stomach with a hot nutritious meal and then spend the afternoon participating in fun educational activities appropriate for a child of his age. Prior to participating in the after-school activities, Jacob was struggling at school. Indeed, although his teachers believed Jacob had the potential to excel in his schoolwork, often he seemed very tired and incapable of concentrating
on the classroom's activities. However, since Jacob began attending Pahad Yitzhak, his teachers have noted a significant improvement in his schoolwork. Although he is still occasionally withdrawn and preoccupied, his grades are steadily improving and he now contributes in class.