Vision
Farming and the pride associated with growing – literally and metaphorically – is a powerful way to connect people to something inherently meaningful. Kaima’s vision is to harness the principles of farming and cultivate curiosity in other realms to improve the lives of young people unable to thrive in conventional indoor, learning frameworks, and reconnect them to a sense of purpose and possibility.
Activity
Since Kaima’s founding, the Matanel Foundation has been instrumental in advancing the Kaima movement as a vibrant and successful alternative educational resource. The Matanel-Kaima Educational Investment Fund is a tested network-wide initiative that demonstrated its capacity to improve long-term opportunities for current participants and alumni to succeed in life by providing access to serious vocational and professional training courses and academic programs.
The fund will provide up to 40 scholarships annually across three Kaima therapeutic farms (in Beit Zayit, Hukuk, and Nahalal), giving young people ages 15–25 access to certificate-granting courses and/or academic programming in fields such as computer science, carpentry, welding, business, the arts, and more. Select objectives are to:
• Expand the individual’s skill-set and sense of personal agency.
• Reinforce Kaima’s assertion that curiosity is one of the most powerful tools to encourage true learning and personal application.
• Advance the Foundation’s prior investment in the Kaima network and take the first meaningful step toward responding to the needs of Kaima alumni.