Back to Sderot

16 February 2024

On March 3, WIZO will reopen three WIZO day care centres in Sderot:

·        The Bruce and Ruth Rappaport Day Care Center (Israel’s first fully rocket-proof DCC)

·        The Jaqueline Benghouzi Day Care Center

·        The Roland and Paul Zajfen Day Care Center

This is an act of dramatic importance for Israel, and a declaration of victory over our enemies, who thought that their murderous atrocities could drive us from our homes, from a part of the sovereign State of Israel; and it is a defiant message to the world: this is our land, and we will never leave.

The children, teachers and staff of our day care centres have been through unimaginable trauma, dispersed as refugees in their own land. Michal Ohayon, is a teacher at one of the WIZO Daycare Centres - read her story below.

The 30,000 residents of Sderot, including the families of nearly 200 children that attend WIZO’s three day care centers in the town, and 50 professional staff who cared for them, were forced to flee their homes, refugees in their own land, piling trauma upon trauma.

Now, they are returning, and the reopening of Sderot’s educational institutions, including day care centers, is crucial for the return to normal life in the town. Without schools, parents can’t work, and the community cannot function.

When the residents of Sderot return – WIZO will be there with open arms,  providing all the professional support possible to the children, families and staff.