Abandoned children

We have started working yesterday, on the website for Unitaf - kindergartens  for children of migrant workers.

The aim of the website is to raise money to open more kindergartens.

I have set up a makeshift studio in an empty shop, next to the kindergartens, in the new central station of Tel -Aviv.

And photographed about 30 sweet kids.

In order to give you some more information about the state of the children , I have translated an article from Ynet ( with the kind help of Google Translate) , written by Tamar Dressler.

Abandoned Children
12 beds packed side by side, dozens of toys lying in the closet because there is not enough room  and 30 infants, some have already learned that no one had to dispel the cries, others are still trying to gain a little attention from the guests. Welcome to one of dozens of makeshift gardens apartments in neglected southern workers Tel - Aviv, where children of foreign workers are staying.
"We are in contact with 26 such kindergartens, this kindergarten is still considered one of the best of them", sighs Tamar Schwartz, director of Mesila, the foreign community assistance center of Tel Aviv - Jaffa. "True, there are illegal workers - but there is no People that are  illegal, "she protested." It is inconceivable that a child will pay the price for his parents' status. "


450 children of foreign workers under the age of three years living in Israel, most of these kindergartens remain, or "babysit" when their parents leave for work. Due to the status of the parents they are not entitled to the services of the formal education system, the apartments are crowded every morning and can barely call them day care. Social workers of "Mesila" are in constant touch with kindergartens known to them, trying to improve their conditions even slightly, but they acknowledge that "there are an unknown number of kindergartens we still could not locate, and we have no doubt that the conditions that prevail in some are even more difficult."


The babysitters where children spend more than 12 hours a day , are run by women from the foreign community. "The kids can only dream of  playgrounds and most of the apartment blinds are closed because the women, some of whom have no permit to stay,are afraid to be discovered", described Schwartz. "Compressed air in apartments causes disease and infections that pass rapidly from child to child, needless to say that there are minimal safety conditions. Babies are all day in a cradle with no chance to crawl or play outside them, and because nurses care for thirty children on average, there is hardly human warmth and touch" .

"It is inconceivable that a child will pay the price." - Unitaf





In recent years, many foreign workers were deported or expelled ,children were left behind and their wives had to continue working, sometimes double jobs to support their families abroad and return the loans they took in their homeland to come to Israel. Because they work 12 to 16 hours a day, they had no choice but must leave their children in makeshift gardens. "The women who operate the babysitters have not  undergone any professional training, and the constant handling of a large number - that of young children leads to their erosion and sometimes violence, "says Schwartz." We think, that kidsin these frames meet all the criteria of children at risk, due to the fact that they suffer daily physical neglect emotionally difficult. "


She says, "the foreign community mothers have no choice but to use the services of the" babysitter "because they have no right to any subsidy or discount urban gardens. These babysitters are cheap and are the only frame they can afford.
  "Parents, who work mostly to late evening, there is no other solution for them. These children often find it difficult to fit in Israeli education, which they are received after arriving from frame structured agenda-free. Fortunately, great efforts are made to integrate them in the education system at age three. "


At the same time attempt to intervene pirate babysitters,  "Mesila" operates "Unitaf" where about 60 toddlers stay lucky. The residence is located in a well maintained building donated to the center, as well as allowing the activity budget, and has a vast playground, kitchen, boxes packed with toys - and National Service volunteers help nurses, all foreign workers who have professional training. "Working with younger children is supported only on - by donations, due to the illegal status of their parents," says Schwartz. "We do not want to intervene or to express an opinion on issues of political related to the status of migrant workers in Israel. Our belief is that only so long as the children are in Israel ", she concludes," We are committed to moral values ​​as do the best for them. "