Our aim is to raise awareness about orphanhood and its ramifications and to provide tools for coping with them. We know that one of the most difficult and complex factors is lack of societal understanding due to lack of information and awareness. Many are unaware of the numerous impacts and effects on young people who become orphans after the death of a parent. Moreover, even if there is awareness, many times tools are lacking to help and support orphans in coping with the new circumstances that befell them.

Goals of our awareness raising plan

Israel Orphanhood Day:
The aim of this day is to shed light on orphanhood and orphans in Israel, to the ramifications of orphanhood, and particularly to hear the personal stories of orphans, widows and widowers. This is a unique day, in which Sunflowers and its activity for the good and benefit of Israeli society will receive public exposure.

Create a different discourse:
Create a different discourse about orphanhood, a discourse that makes room for the full range of feelings experienced by orphans, widows and widowers. We realize this goal every day, and call on everyone to conduct a more accepting, supportive and compassionate discourse for the sake and benefit of orphans.

Serve as a global information hub:
Serve as an information hub about the impacts of orphanhood in Israel and around the world. Unfortunately, studies have not been conducted in Israel about young orphans, and without such studies the most profound effects of orphanhood, which we definitely think there are, remain unexposed, and consequently also untreated. We are currently conducting studies together with Tel Aviv University and Bar-Ilan University which we will be uploading to the website very soon. Furthermore, we are studying orphanhood and its ramifications in-depth through a market research company, in cooperation with the Knesset Research and Information Center and the National Insurance Institute.

As part of our aim to raise awareness and make information accessible, please find below access to several select articles.

Articles

We gathered several select articles that present different approaches to orphanhood and its ramifications at different ages.

• Coping with Death at a Young Age - Noam Krav El, psychologist
• Children Cope with Loss - Ziva Hanuka
• The Development of Children’s Concept of Death - Prof. Israel Orbach
• Coping with Death in Early Childhood - Shosh Carmel, social worker
• The Two-Track Model of Bereavement - Prof. Shimon Rubin
• I Killed Dad - the Sense of Guilt Following Loss - Dr. Igal Emanuel
• Fatherless Fathers: Love, Guilt and Reparation - Dr. Amit Fachler
• The Little Mermaid: The Journey of a Lost Girl - Dr. Shelly Rakover and Dr. Yael Noy
• Explaining Death to Children in Simple Words - Dr. Tamar Ashkenazi

Research sources about the ramifications of loss

Loss of a parent creates feelings of guilt among children. Sometimes the connection appears weak, and at other times sounds more logical. However, even though in all the cases described in Emanuel’s study the children are not to blame for the death of their parent, they nonetheless feel guilty ("I Killed Dad”, Dr. Igal Emanuel).

There are dangers in female adolescence when it takes place without maternal guidance. There are indications that adolescent girls who must undergo this process alone are more vulnerable and tend to manifest more self-destructive and suicidal behaviors ("The Little Mermaid", Dr. Shelly Rakover).

Fatherless fathers tend to exhibit a higher frequency of avoidant attachment (characterized by self-reliance, keeping a distance from others, and difficulty developing intimate relationships) compared to fathers who are not fatherless. The book also maintains that the death of their father caused most of the orphans to lose their belief that they have someone they can turn to in times of need ("Fatherless Fathers", study conducted by Dr. Amit Fachler, clinical psychologist).

These studies, and many others, teach us about the inner world of children coping with loss – which constitutes both a personal and family trauma. These children must organize their inner world in the face of their new and tragic reality, and it is evident that without proper guidance and accompaniment at this critical time such a loss will significantly impact and affect the rest of their life.

Information activities

At Sunflowers we attribute great importance to making coping tools accessible to those in the orphan’s environment. Many times after loss we find ourselves without words. How can we help the young child just orphaned from a parent? What do we say and what don’t we say? How do we help youth and adults who lost one or both parents?

At Sunflowers we believe it is our duty to make information accessible to all groups in the population.

Sunflowers aims to provide age-appropriate and accessible information for all ages: from video clips for youth to guidance books for widowed parents.

General accessibility: general accessible information for the entire population, addressing questions we are asked repeatedly.

Accessibility according to degree of closeness: different information for widows and widowers, friends, extended family, etc.