Youth Programming – Youths for Jaffa

Coordinator: Maayan Hilell

Youth Programming at the Arab Jewish Community Center includes projects aimed to meet participants’ needs for fun and challenges. Programs are also geared towards providing a social framework that is both enjoyable and educational, offering opportunities for initiative, empowerment and self expression through leadership education, community involvement and volunteer work.
In recent years, the AJCC has launched a number of varied programs including leadership training sessions, volunteer work, courses and an array of social activities aimed at training the next generation of young leaders in Jaffa and the surrounding area.

The four year youth training program is available for youths in grades 8-12. This framework encourages youths to contribute to the community, even after they graduate high school. Upon graduating, many continue to take part in the program and engage in activities in the community.

Nativ- Tel Aviv-Jaffa Youth in the Community
“Nativ- Tel Aviv-Jaffa Youth in the Community” is a community leadership training program. The Education Ministry’s Youth and Society Administration awards program graduates with certified counselor diplomas.
The young leaders’ courses include weekly activities, leadership seminars, volunteer activities, as well as gives them an opportunity to initiate and organize various cultural activities at the AJCC to benefit the entire community.
Groups are divided according to age group, beginning in 8th grade, and are engaged with the following:
1.    Familiarizing participants with their personal abilities while strengthening their personal identities.
2.    Cultivating leadership potential by giving participants a “tool box” that corresponds to each group member’s personal abilities and skills.
3.    Training participants to take personal responsibility and increase their involvement in the community.
4.    Meeting with individuals in Jaffa who serve as role models and help develop participants’ desire to progress and aspire for key positions in the community.





Youth Leadership – Joint Communities
This two-year program is open to Jewish, Muslim and Christian youths, aged 16-18. The offers an opportunity for the two sides to develop a dialogue and embark on joint projects together, while being exposed to different cultures and religions. The first year of the program is devoted to history and learning about each group’s background, and during the second year we conduct a “community study,” during which the group plans a project that it will implement during the year. Most of the meetings are held together in a bi-national setting, while there are also uni-national meetings, during which participants discuss personal aspects of what they are learning.

Youth Club
The club is open on Fridays and offers a range of enrichment, as well as social, activities. On Friday, most youths are void of any educational activities and often find themselves wandering the streets, where they are exposed to street gangs, vandalism, etc. In order to meet their needs, the AJCC established a social, educational and cultural youth club.

The club develops youths’ leadership skills and unique art abilities in a dynamic framework that promotes community action and creativity, filling the void in Jaffa’s Arab society and encouraging the group to initiate projects for social action.

The “Youths for Jaffa – Shabeiba Min Ajl Yaffa” Club offers activities in the realm of art, drama and music, as well as an array of social activities.

1.    Art – Develops youths’ artistic abilities and creativity and serves as a foundation for future projects that will incorporate art and the environment in Tel Aviv–Jaffa (Instructor: Salim Shehada).
2.    Theater – Instills participants with various tools in the realm of acting and improvisation and boosts their self-confidence and public speaking abilities (Instructor: Ibrahim Sakalla).
3.    Music – Youths will learn to play various instruments and plan to form a community  marching band.
4.    Social activities – Consolidating the group and formulating activities for the different age groups in an effort to create a strong youth framework to carry out activities in the city (Instructor: Wafi Kheil).

As part of the program’s social activities, youths have begun initiating various volunteer work including: Activities at retirement facilities, enrichment activities at local schools, social and cultural activities at hospitals, and more.

Additional youth programs:
Voices of Peace Choir
Photography Class
Enrichment Activities: English, computers, dance, music, etc.