Elifelet – Citizens for Refugee Children in Israel

The "Elifelet – Citizens for Refugee children" association is a registered Israel based non-profit. Our vision is to rescue African refugee babies and children (Christian and Muslim refugees from Eritrea, Sudan, and Nigeria etc.) from the devastating cycle of poverty and hunger in which they are trapped. Being volunteer based organization, Elifelet operates out of values of empowerment and partnership with the refugee community and empathy towards the community.

Fifty five kindergartens for refugee children are operating in the south of Tel Aviv today. Dozens of toddlers and babies are crowded in each one of them. The kindergartens are operating in old and unsafe buildings, small overcrowded rooms, often without windows. Children are the most vulnerable part of the refugee community; their exact number is unknown since the State of Israel does not allow the parents to register babies at their birth. The refugee children are literally "transparent", mostly unknown, do not exist for the State and therefore the State is not obliged to take any responsibility over them. 

Most of these children have no medical insurance and there is no follow up on the state of their health and development. Many of the children live in intolerable conditions in terms of nutrition, hygiene and safety; the kindergartens lack equipment, toys and development stimuli.

The Elifelet association tries to put a finger in the dike. We provide ongoing assistance to five kindergartens in the south of Tel Aviv today, acting on different levels, from assistance in goods to volunteers help and financial assistance. Our dedicated volunteers take upon themselves the responsibility of educating and mentoring these children, providing them with recreational activities outside the small and crowded kindergarten.

Elifelet assists the kindergartens with the rent and covers electricity bills also handling the costs of any repair that is needed on the premises. In addition, Elifelet provides the children with three daily meals, diapers, clothes and shoes, toys, stationery, and supplies for educational and recreational activities.