New AYALIM Student Village:
Building Israel’s Future



When Ayalim was founded in 2002 with one caravan in the middle of
the desert and a dream to build and strengthen the Negev and Galilee,
it wasn’t simple to attract funding, but Yitzchak Shavit (z”l), believed in
and shared this dream.

Shavit worked non-stop to introduce donors to Ayalim and bring them to Israel to meet Ayalim’s dynamic young students who believe in their ability to make a difference and bring about real social change in Israel’s social and geographic periphery.

In honor of Yitzchak’s indispensable support of Ayalim’s incredible growth, Ayalim is establishing its twelfth student village in his memory. The Ofakim Student Village will be named the Yitzchak Shavit Student Village.

This October, 30 students from Ben Gurion University and eight pre-army volunteers will move into the Yitzchak Shavit Student Village. The village—built by Ayalim students from all over the country—will include housing for up to the 50 young social change activists and a modest clubhouse for a variety of social and cultural activities.

Each student will receive a three-year tuition scholarship and subsidized housing at the Village, and in turn they will give 500 hours of community service—volunteering for and initiating social, educational and cultural programs in the surrounding under-served neighborhoods.

The heart of the students’ activities will be Ayalim’s Family Center where children and youth will engage in creative after school activities and receive one-on-one tutoring. The students will establish an “Adopt a School” program in which they work with lagging pupils and teach in small groups.

The students from the Yitzchak Shavit Student Village aim to bring a new spirit of optimism and achievement to the town of Ofakim. After 60 years, Ofakim still suffers from high unemployment and low wages. Children lack the encouragement and resources to reach their potential. Ayalim’s social activists are committed to changing the equation.

"If we don’t settle the Negev and the Galilee, at the end of the day it won’t be ours.
If we live here, it will be ours.” — Yitzchak Shavit z”l

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