The Nitzana youth village offers a space for a mixed population that contains both Jewish children from complicated backgrounds and Bedouin children of Israel’s South, who often come from unrecognized villages lacking basic utilities and easy access to basic civic services.

In Bedouin society, Only 20% of the boys graduate from their high school studies, leaving them with low hopes for the future and few prospects outside of minimum-wage, manual labor—many of them end up in crime.

Former director of Nitzana, David Palmach, started the village together with the kids’ parents as a first-of-its-kind attempt at providing a framework for youth to develop social skills, self-discipline, and improve their grades, giving an equal opportunity to be ready to begin their adult life as productive, self-confident citizens with a support system to fall back on.

They study Hebrew and learn core high school subjects to reach their high school matriculation.

Nitzana’s 200 resident youth go to the Neve Midbar School, which has seen no renovations for over 40 years.

Having toured the spot, KH’s Dutch office decided to give these kids an equal opportunity at a good education and a good life, raising significant funds to fuel the renovation of Neve Midbar’s facilities and make it suitable for the 21st century.

Afterward, the Swiss campaign office in Zürich happily announced that they will join the initiative, and so they did.

On June 13, we also inaugurated a new residential facility for these students, donated by an Italian donor, giving them brand-new accommodations and a better chance to succeed.

Thank you for your open heart!