Ukrainian Refugees at Yemin Orde
By: Hannah Levin
The recent Russian-Ukrainian crisis has resulted in the displacement of more than 10 million Ukrainians, four million of whom have left to neighboring countries such as Poland and Romania, while another six million remain displaced within Ukraine itself. Over 10,000 of them, both Jewish and non-Jewish, have sought refuge in Israel.
Nativ couldn’t have been in a better place to understand the impact and hardships of refuge than Yemin Orde, our current volunteering location. Since its inception in 1953, the village has taken in thousands of teenage immigrants and Israelis over different waves of immigration, from the Ethiopian crisis to the rise of antisemitism in France, and now is no different. Home to over 100 Ukrainian students, 30 of whom still have family that remain in Ukraine, the village has opened its gates to those seeking refuge. Yemin Orde has since welcomed a small group of Ukrainian immigrants, and are expecting a total of about 40 refugees in the coming months.
When Nativ received the news of the incoming students and families to Yemin Orde, Nativers and staff took initiative and came up with a tangible way to make the newcomers feel welcome. As we’ve learned on Nativ, being Jewish means taking action when the call is issued. So we turned to you, our Nativ community, for help, and started a campaign to raise money in order to create both individual and group packages for the Ukrainians. In just two days we were able to raise $5,000 dollars, and just a week after its inception, we closed the campaign after receiving over $15,000 dollars! Thank you!
With that money, we were able to purchase food, blankets, toiletries, games, room decorations, and gift cards for clothing. Nativers made welcome signs and assembled 40 individual care packages as well as over ten larger baskets for the rooms that the refugees will move into.
So what’s next? Nativers have served as a welcoming face and taken to embracing the teens that have made their way to Yemin Orde, and we will continue to do so as additional refugees arrive. As Nativ’s time at Yemin Orde is coming to an end, we relish opportunities like these which truly emulate the Yemin Orde experience and philosophy of initiative and unconditional hospitality.
Once again, thank you for all your support! We couldn’t have done this without your help.
