{"id":2163,"date":"2019-01-15T16:17:12","date_gmt":"2019-01-15T14:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/negba.org\/negba2018\/?p=2163"},"modified":"2019-01-15T16:17:19","modified_gmt":"2019-01-15T14:17:19","slug":"a-youthful-point-of-view-ori-israel-reflects-on-seven-years-and-counting-at-negba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/negba.org\/negba2018\/en\/2019\/01\/15\/a-youthful-point-of-view-ori-israel-reflects-on-seven-years-and-counting-at-negba\/","title":{"rendered":"A Youthful Point of View: Ori Israel Reflects on Seven Years (and Counting) at Negba"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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For half of his life,\nOri Israel, 14, has been spending five hours a day of every week day at\nNegba.  Much like his real home in Beersheva, Negba is an essential part\nof his being.  It wasn\u2019t something forced upon him by his parents when he\nfirst walked into a Negba After-School Home in second grade, at the suggestion\nof a friend.  He decided to stay.  For seven years now, and counting.\n  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI arrived during\nlunchtime and they introduced me to all the kids,\u201d Ori recalled of his first\nencounter.  \u201cThe activities were really fun and interesting to me.  I\nhaven\u2019t looked back since day one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While the engaging\nprogramming may have been the initial attraction, the network of friends Ori\nmade at Negba fostered his social growth, and it serves as a source of great\npride to him and his Negba peers.  \u201cWhen I see my Negba friends around\ntown, at the mall, or wherever, I get a warm feeling of camaraderie, of\nsomething special we share.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years Ori\nbenefitted- and continues to benefit- from the academic enrichment in subjects\nsuch as Hebrew, math and English through Negba\u2019s Learning Center.  Yet\nwithout a doubt, the greatest benefit Ori gained from Negba was his personal\ngrowth, and his drive to contribute positively to society. \u201cNegba is a\nframework that educates me how to be a good person, and how to do something of\nvalue with my life,\u201d he said.  \u201cWhen I eventually leave Negba I will leave\nas a decent human being.\u201d  When that time does come, Ori intends to serve\nin the Israeli army and attain a high rank.  For the long-term, Ori\naspires to work as a lawyer or in law enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cOri has gone through an\nincredible process of maturation as a member of the Teen Club these past two\nyears,\u201d said Nadav Elhadad, Coordinator of the Teen Club.  \u201cHe\u2019s learned\nto take responsibility and initiative in many projects, such as the cleanup and\nrestoration of the Teen Club\u2019s courtyard, in volunteering at the senior\nresidence home, and in the Negba Teen Band.  Ori has become a leader and a\nrole model for all in the club.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Ori continues to\ngrow each day at the Teen Club, where he feels \u201cat home\u201d at his second\nhome.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love to be\nhere.  I\u2019m here almost all the time.  I love being involved in all\nkinds of projects that help people.  It\u2019s important that we work and do\nsomething productive.  Negba gives me so much, why shouldn\u2019t I give\nsomething back?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For half of his life, Ori Israel, 14, has been spending five hours a day of every week day at Negba.  Much like his real home in Beersheva, Negba is an essential part of his being.  It wasn\u2019t something forced upon him by his parents when he first walked into… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[76,299,300],"class_list":["post-2163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-teen-club","tag-teen","tag-teens-club","tag-youth"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/negba.org\/negba2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/IMG_9879-2.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9TfAG-yT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/negba.org\/negba2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/negba.org\/negba2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/negba.org\/negba2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/negba.org\/negba2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/negba.org\/negba2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2163"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/negba.org\/negba2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2177,"href":"https:\/\/negba.org\/negba2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2163\/revisions\/2177"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/negba.org\/negba2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/negba.org\/negba2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/negba.org\/negba2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/negba.org\/negba2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}