March 18, 2010 / 3 Nissan 5770

Two Jewish Agency supported programs working with at-risk youth recently joined forces in the Western Galilee to offer free computer help to residents of the village of Sheich Danon.

Both innovative and ground breaking projects, Net@ trains disadvantaged youth in Israel's peripheral areas in computer technology, and Youth Futures helps youth living on the periphery to break out of the cycle of poverty through "Trustee" life mentoring.

It all happened when Aliza Zafir, a Trustee for Youth Futures in Acco brought old computers from the Youth Futures office to the Net@ lab FIXIT in the Beit Hyman Community Center in Acco.  There she met Ben Yavnieli, tech instructor and Net@ lab director who suggested that Net@ and Youth Futures launch a joint venture.

Ben suggested that he take the Net@ mobile lab, which consists of 20 Jewish and Arab Net@ participants who volunteer their tech skills, to the village of Sheich Danon, an Israeli-Arab village in the Western Galilee.

Thanks to the nimble organizing by Shadi Draz, Youth Futures Trustee in the Mateh Asher regional council and a highly effective buzz campaign, word quickly spread among the village and recently, dozens of children and families arrived at the Net@ mobile lab with their personal computers in tow.

In the end, the young Net@ technicians worked for five hours straight, fixing computers, installing anti-virus programs and games, and answering questions. The families were very grateful and the day was considered a big success.

Cooperation between Youth Futures and Net@ continues to blossom and grow. So far, 23 computers have been sold to Youth Futures children at very nominal prices, and the mobile lab is scheduled visit additional Youth Futures centers in Acco and Mateh Asher. 

Youth Futures in Acco is supported by the Central Area Consortium with Western Galilee. Net@ is an alliance between the Jewish Agency with Keren Hayesod-UIA, Cisco Systems, Inc. and Israeli non-profit Tapuach.