YEMIN ORDE, Israel (Press Release) — As part of a recent visit to Israel to address the
Israeli Presidential Conference hosted by President Shimon Peres, US Ambassador to
the United Nations Susan Rice spent an enlightening afternoon at Yemin Orde
Youth Village near Haifa, home to at-risk and disadvantaged youth from around the world.
Ambassador Rice listened to songs from Yemin Orde’s acclaimed choir, addressed the community and toured the grounds with Chaim Peri, the visionary educator under whose guidance Yemin Orde has become a model for residential education in
Israel.
The children of Yemin Orde, who came there from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union among other places, welcomed her warmly and listened raptly as she
expressed enthusiasm for what she experienced in their company. Especially notable
given her extensive world travel was a sense that Yemin Orde is unique. “A microcosm of Israel and humanity as it should be”, she commented.
Located just south of Haifa in the Carmel Mountains, Yemin Orde is home to more than 500 disadvantaged, immigrant and refugee youth from over 20 countries around the world. The Village’s success in integrating children from diverse cultures and backgrounds, cultivating their self-esteem through innovative educational and community outreach programs, serves as a model for residential education for at-risk youth in Israel.
Yemin Orde Initiatives, a rapidly growing national movement launched in 2006 at the urging of the Ministry of Education, has the potential to transform the entire youth village system through dissemination of the Village’s unique methodology and philosophy.
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Preceding provided by Friends of Yemin Orde (www.yeminorde.org) which supports fundraising efforts in the United States for Yemin Orde Youth Village and Yemin Orde Initiatives.