Machol
Ongoing work for teenage youth
The success at Yiftach in bringing hundreds of teenage boys at risk back to a path of growth brought with it a growing demand to establish a similar framework for teenage girls. Following many repeated applications from parents, authorities and education institutes, the project started taking shape within the framework of a residential school. In 2007, after seven years of achievement at Yiftach, the Timora non-profit organization founded the Machol Residential Village for Teenage Girls’ at Risk, which is located in the Mechula Settlement north of the Jordan Valley.
Machol, for whom?
Machol is home for 24 teenage girls from religious homes in grades 9-12 whose existing places of learning in the religious sector did not suit them for various reasons. The absence of a supportive framework that teenage girls are so much in need of led them to vagrancy and extended periods outside the school framework. In consequence, more than once they found themselves exposed to grave risks.
Machol, for what purpose?
With an understanding of the emotional upheaval that the girls went through, our guiding principle was to walk with them hand in hand in an emotional process of introspection. The ability to examine the difficulty together, meet it and gradually get away from it, is what enables the girl to free herself from distress and progress to a happier life.
The restructuring of the internal world is intended to bring the teenage girl at risk back to herself and to the anchor of her family that she is so in need of to feel safe and protected. In this manner, the girl can successfully integrate into the various life structures, from National Service to the army, continue her education, join the work force and lead a balanced and healthy family life.
The uniqueness of Machol:
Dynamic Education
Understanding the emotional need of the teenage girl led to the application of an innovative worldview based on “work through contact,” which helps young girls grow by means of managing daily relationships within an all-inclusive and supportive framework. The atmosphere of a warm home in which there are deep close relationships with those who surround her strengthens the presence of the teenage girl within a process, and produces a sense of self-competence to succeed in the outside world.
The work domains of Dynamic Education
The personal attention that each and every girl at Machol receives is enabled by dividing the girls into two age groups, with twelve girls in each group. Each group receives around the clock support from an instructor, youth counselor and social worker. The personal accompaniment at Machol focuses on four cycles:
Providing tools for internal perception that strengthens the sense of self competence, breaks the cycles of failure and creates a narrative of success.
Giving tools to both the teenage girl and parents for the purpose of renewed and better family integration. For the duration of the entire process the parents receive professional support that includes a parenting workshop, night meetings and private meetings with parents.
Strengthening social capacities that are needed for the purpose of successful integration into normative frameworks such as the army, National Service and the workplace. The social responsibility is manifested daily within the framework of tasks carried out in cooperation between the young girls and staff for maintenance (kitchen shifts, cleaning, gardening etc.) In addition, the girls integrate into agricultural work on the moshav and run a bakery as part of a personal initiative project. All this breaks the egocentric/ survivalist cycles and develops the teenage girl’s ability to give trust, to see and take into account the needs of others.
A high school in the village is designated to enable students to achieve full high school diplomas, with an emphasis on the individual needs of each student. Learning in small groups of up to four girls in a class enables the bridging of gaps and optimal acquisition of study skills that transforms the teenage girl into an independent learner on her future path. The dynamic education also involves private lessons and many hours of learning reinforcement.
With the will to relate personally to each and every individual the teenagers at Machol are divided into three age groups, each containing 15 girls. Each group receives around the clock support from dedicated staff: a coordinator (instructor), youth counselor, social worker and two supportive young men in their pre-army service year. The personal accompaniment at Machol focuses on four cycles:
Providing tools for internal perception that strengthens the sense of self competence, breaks the cycles of failure and creates a narrative of success.
Giving tools to both the teenager and parents for the purpose of renewed and better family integration. For the duration of the entire process the parents receive professional support that includes a parenting workshop, night meetings and private meetings with parents.
• The social cycle: Strengthening social capacities that are needed for the purpose of successful integration into normative frameworks such as the army and the workplace. The social responsibility is manifested daily within the framework of tasks carried out in cooperation between the youngsters and staff for maintenance (kitchen shifts, cleaning, gardening etc.) This breaks the egocentric/ survivalist cycles and develops the teenager’s ability to give trust, to see and take into account the needs of others.
A high school in Yiftach is designated to enable students to achieve full high school diplomas, with an emphasis on the individual needs of each student. Learning in small groups of 5-6 students in a class enables the bridging of gaps and optimal acquisition of study skills that transforms the teenage student into an independent learner on his future path. The dynamic education also involves private lessons and many hours of learning reinforcement.
The Facilities
What is the format for success?
The creation of a supportive framework that operates around the clock and enables the teenage girl to express her internal world by means of significant internal achievement.
The afternoons are spent with diverse enrichment activities from the worlds of music, art, cooking and more. The experience of achievement is strengthened by the instructors who are considered the best in their fields. Along with these activities the girls have access to creative domains within the framework of therapeutic meetings that instruct the girls how to express their internal paths in drawing, painting, writing, movement and more – each girl and her suitable manner of expression.
The evening hours are dedicated to the acquisition of social and interpersonal skills by means of comprehensible input-output activities and free time for personal activity in the teenage girls club and the domains of the various courses.
Apart from all the routine schoolwork, for the duration of the year there are diverse social activities including day trips, joint Shabbatot, unique workshops and planning group evenings.
For the duration of the year there are diverse social activities outside the school gates including:
Weekly activities – afternoons
Consolidation trip
Takes place in the first month of studies and includes a two-day outing for fun and group dynamics for the purpose of consolidating the group of girls among themselves.
Study days
“Woman, story, life” – Three days of study that are held both in Machol and outside the village that deal with all aspects of womanhood, relationships, body, care.
Yearly trip
Takes place every year around March-April, including a three-day experiential and challenging trip involving sleeping out in the field and stimulating activities such as climbing and rappelling.
Study trips
Visiting sites that relate to subjects studied in class, mainly citizenship and history. For example: a trip to Yad Vashem, the Palmach Museum, the Knesset.
Culture Basket
Exposing the girls to various cultural events for personal enrichment.
Friday trips
During the summertime clock period, when Shabbat starts relatively late, the girls go out every Friday for various activities: bike trips, swimming and hiking in nature, etc.
Trips over the course of the year
Day trips in the region take place four times a year, to different destinations.
Summer activities
A one-week trip with various attractions, one-week marine training trip, a week of workshops and various activities (in which the girls are at Machol and go out every day for another activity).
