Rae Sikora leading the second seminar
CHAI’s humane education program for Arab schools, “Expanding the Circle of Compassion,” which began as a pilot project in a small number of schools, has proved so popular and so effective in changing attitudes toward those we call “other,” including nonhuman animals, that Israel’s Ministry of Education expanded it to 60 schools, with a planned further expansion to all schools in the north of Israel.
Teachers reported that students were amazed to learn that animals have intelligence and emotions, just like humans, and those who were abusing animals, such as by hanging cats or cutting off their tails, voluntarily came forward, reported with regret what they had done, and vowed to stop this behavior. Teachers, too, were affected by what they saw and learned.
Read below some of the feedback we received about the impact of the program, printed in an Arab newspaper that interviewed participants at our second training conference:
Web: http://www.chai-online.org
CHAI’s sister charity in Israel, Hakol Chai (Everything Lives), will sponsor four more training seminars in September for 180 teachers responsible for over 5,400 students—two for teachers new to the program and two for teachers already participating. We are grateful to the Animal Guardians Foundation for their generous support of this program.
In addition, a Jewish school learned of the program and will try it in September as a pilot. Also in September, ten Bedouin schools will introduce a related program we created especially for these schools, which focuses on proper respect and care for donkeys.
Also on their site – news on the ban on horse drawn transport, campaign against horse racing and CHAI Joins Call To Revive and Transform the Jewish New Year’s Day for Animals.
| Nina Natelson CHAI – Concern for Helping Animals in Israel
PO Box 3341, Alexandria, VA 22302 |