Introducing our French Olim Project Coordinator
When Naomie Nakache Benchimol turned 18 and graduated from high school in Paris, France, she made aliya alone without any family members. Naomie spent a year continuing her Jewish studies at Midreshet Lindenbaum, completed a BA in psychology at Ariel University, and an MSW at Hebrew University. Naomie served as a Case Manager for Reut, an NGO serving high functioning developmentally disabled adults in rehabilitation. In 2016 Naomie became a mentor in our new program for students who had recently made aliya from France.
From Mentor to Assistant Mentoring Supervisor
Kav L’Noar’s School Mentoring Supervisor, Akiva Harow, was pleased with the leadership she provided and the outcomes of the 2 groups she mentored. In 2016-17, Naomie was assigned to continue mentoring one group and to supervise 2 mentors running 3 new groups for French Olim students and 3 mentors of new groups for native Israeli students. Naomie is also providing therapy to growing numbers of families.
New Expanded Program for French Olim
Our CEO, Dani Yemini, has invited Naomie to coordinate our program for French Olim together with the Jerusalem Municipality, who requested that Kav L’Noar expand its services to the growing oleh community from France.
Naomie shared the following goals for 2017-18:
Assisting French Olim families in overcoming the ‘stigma’ they feel in having to provide their children with help to transition to life in their new home and country.
To recognize that, unlike in France where the school would initiate recommendations for support services to students who needed them, in Israel the parent needs to be more proactive.
Assisting families and their children in overcoming traditional aliya challenges.
Providing greater awareness of services available to both parents and their children.
Providing a school group mentoring experience that will focus on building emotional regulation and self-esteem.
We wish Naomie continued hatzlacha in all of her efforts.
For more information in French Click here to hear Naomie speaking about Kav L’Noar on the Studio Qualita Internet Radio program