The self defense program is very close to my heart, especially as Adina learns to ride the city buses going and coming from school. Being aware of what’s going on around you and feeling confident as you move around is something many kids take for granted. Our teens need to learn how to interpret the world and how to handle the unexpected – that’s what we’re aiming for in our self defense courses.
The writer of this short note is Miriam Avraham, co-founder of Shutaf which provides inclusion programming for both special needs and typical kids in Jerusalem. Miriam was writing to us after we let her know that we had received a generous grant for Shutaf’s self-defense project from the Lillian Fund out of the West Hartford Federation. This grant will cover the cost of self-defense sessions for the girls’ program while other funds will underwrite the boy’s sessions.
Why the need? In Israel, as in other countries, violence in school is on the rise. A significant number of kids do not feel safe while attending school and this is not limited to cases of bullying. Studies show that women with disabilities report twice the number of incidents of abuse than non-disabled women. How great that this grant (and additional funds) will empower the Shutaf kids, give them more self-confidence, make them aware of the dangers around them, learn to use physical and verbal signs to ward off impending danger and finally, teach them simple self-defense methods in the event of possible attack.
The Good People Fund is excited about making this connection and to be able to support this meaningful program.
