JDC Non-Sectarian Druze Initiative: Helping Teens off the Street and into the Driver's Seat

Sliman, age 17, comes from the Israeli Druze town of Dalyat El Carmel. He sports a mustache and dons the unique hat (resembling a yarmulke) and wide leg trousers which identify him as a traditional Druze male. Like a growing number of his peers, Sliman had dropped out of school, feeling trapped in a struggle between his traditional family life and the broader population in Israel. "I had a really hard time at school and didn't cope well with it. I just didn't find things interesting, so I didn't go."

Dalyat El Carmel lacked funds for recreational activities and frameworks for youth at risk to constructively occupy Sliman, and so he was drawn to the streets. Though social workers and others made multiple attempts to bring Sliman back into an educational or employment framework, he resisted.

But one day a few friends told him that there were exciting new things happening in the local community center and in the youth club – like a tractor-driving licensing course, being given by a Druze teacher. Sliman met with both the driving teacher and the youth-at-risk counselor at the club, who welcomed him and helped custom-tailor a program to suit Sliman's needs (including conducting the lessons in Arabic). Through the class, he met other students with whom he had much in common.

With the course underway, Sliman also agreed to take Hebrew lessons once a week in order to prepare for the theoretical exam – a written examination administered in Hebrew and required by Israeli law in order to take the driving test. Sliman excelled in the course. He and his classmates became part of a self-assistance group with the youth advisor, and Sliman soon became involved in other activities through the club, as well.

Once Sliman passed the theoretical and driving tests he began, at his advisor's suggestion, volunteering his time transporting materials between the old community center and the new, recently-renovated community center building. Earning his license has also helped Sliman secure paid work as a tractor driver, in agriculture and other capacities within the community.

"I feel like a different person now that I have a job and know that there are people I can turn to for help in my community," says Sliman. "Now I have hopes for my future that before seemed impossible."

Sliman's is one of many success stories resulting from the JDC non-sectarian Druze Initiative, which works to improve the future of the Druze community. Ruth, the Director of the Druze Initiative, says, "Here's a case of a boy who was really disconnected and on the edge of getting into crime and drugs. He is now working, speaks better Hebrew and is even thinking about completing high school."

The Druze community – a unique ethnic and religious minority of about 80,000 noted for its loyalty to Israel– has become increasingly troubled. The non-sectarian initiative, spearheaded by JDC in partnership with the Israeli government, non-profit organizations, and leaders of the Druze community, began with funding from JDC Board members Henry and Edith Everett in October 2002. It addresses four main areas for intervention that are essential to strengthening the Druze community:

• Completing high school and bagrut, Israel's matriculation exam, to improve employment opportunities and acceptance into higher education.

• Helping youth-at-risk, many of whom are struggling with their identities as their traditional community transitions into being more open and modern. High rates of youth-initiated violence and vandalism exist within the Druze community, which is comprised mostly of small villages that lack infrastructure for recreational and other activities to engage youth.

• Providing education, vocational training, and jobs for women. Unemployment among Druze women is severe, due partially to their law that women cannot be outside of the village after sundown, limiting their academic and career possibilities. JDC works within the framework of Druze custom, offering women courses and job opportunities in catering, jewelry making, photography, and other fields which can be pursued from their village.

• Cultivating better lay and professional leadership within the community at large. Druze society is based heavily on the Chamulah, or tribal clan with which each individual identifies. This identification with one particular Chamulah greatly influences the political, educational, and social systems among Druze. Through the Druze initiative, lay leaders and professionals are receiving training to improve their managerial skills and encourage them to work together as a team for the benefit of the community. Among other activities, JDC helped one community launch a mediation program in a high school, which brought together students, teachers, and parents who then became apostles in their own communities for mediation and non-violent conflict resolution.

Now at the half way mark in the three-year initiative, remarkable advances have already been noted in the Druze community. "We have made tremendous headway," says Ruth. "But there's still much more to do."