Organization List

Lev Hair Administration, “Basket Kids” project

42 Ohel Moshe St. Jerusalem,

Mr. Udi Amedi, manager

levhair@matnasim.org.il

The Community Administrations in Jerusalem are intended to design, coordinate, integrate or operate the programs of all the services on the neighborhood level. In the past 9 years Lev Hair administration implements in Mahane Yehuda market a project entitled “basket kids”. The idea behind the project is to provide a protective and educational framework for the shopping bag children. The "shopping bag children" - minors who work in the famed Jerusalem market. There are dozens of them, almost all under the age of 16, who work in the stalls and stores. Between 40 and 60 of these shopping bag children work in the market during the winter season, while in the summer there may be as many as 150 or more. Their working day can run to 16 hours; their salary ranges from NIS 80 to NIS 100 a day. None of them are Jewish. Nearly two-thirds of them are from nearby East Jerusalem (their parents have Israeli residence papers) and the rest are from the territories. Nearly all of them have one thing in common: severe economic distress.