Life-Skills

The teen years of every adolescent child in Israel are crucial in preparing them to deal with the challenges and opportunities that they will face during their army service or community service and immediately after. For Orr Shalom children these years are even more difficult due to the lack of family support and parents that can support and guide them through this challenging time.

Moreover, while normative Israeli teenagers gain a certain degree of independence at the age of 18, they are not expected to become fully financially and emotionally independent immediately, and tend to rely partially on their parents until they are earning a steady income. When Orr Shalom teenagers reach 18, this is not the case.

Life Skills for Future Independence teaches key life skills to Orr Shalom teenagers to prepare them for the time when they will need to take full responsibility for their lives. Without the tools for financial and emotional tools for independence, Orr Shalom teenagers risk making unhealthy, destructive decisions. The Life Skills for Future Independence program is specifically designed to help teenagers navigate the difficult adolescent years, and prepare them for future independence.  This is of utmost importance for teenagers who for the most part have no family support, and who had few opportunities to gain such basic skills from their parents.

Workshops include:

• Job Search - a workshop that teaches teens how to look for a job, including interview strategy, job expectations, time management and working with clients

• Financial Management – a workshop in which teens learn to be “money responsible” – the value of a personal budget, including practical assistance, such as how to manage a bank account, read a bank statement, keep to a budget and how to live within their means

• Basic Computer Skills – a workshop teaching basic proficiency in Word and Excel, and introducing basic Internet search skills

• Assertiveness – an empowerment workshop that, among other things, raises awareness of the dangers of drugs and other risky behaviors

• Body Awareness Workshop – a workshop focusing on body image and gender issues, including sexuality.

• Safe and Proper Sexual Conduct – a workshop on contraception, provocative behavior, the right to say no and the role of sex in a relationship

• Nutrition – a workshop that helps teens make healthy food choices, and teaches them how to maintain a balanced diet and recognize the dangers of unhealthy weight-loss diets

• Cooking – an experiential workshop on cooking. The teens learn how to make educated choices about shopping nutritiously and economically, preparing food and maintaining a hygienic kitchen

Ella, one of the participants in the program, secured a waitressing job immediately after completing the Job Search Workshops.  She worked at the restaurant steadily for over a year, while going to college and studying to become a hairdresser This year Ella is working at a beauty salon as a hairdresser, and is even saving money.

Click on the following link to donate.