A letter was sent to Ezer Mizion which really should have been mailed to each one of you! Read and enjoy. You made it happen!
What will they think of next?
Every day, the special children at Ezer Mizion’s Activity Clubs in Elad, like the Ezer Mizion Special Girls’ Clubs in various cities throughout Israel, enjoy a variety of enriching activities. These include arts and crafts, dance, home economics, gardening, personal grooming and scholastic enrichment. Each program is designed to bring the girls one step further in their skills, instill confidence and the satisfaction of accomplishment, and enable them to better integrate within their families and communities. Every day is filled with programs of immeasurable value but I want to talk about a very special activity day that was held for our children just recently:
Last Tuesday, there was a spectacular integrated event at the Activity Club. Eighth-grade girls from the Ahavat Zion School in Petach Tikvah came to work with the children at Ezer Mizion’s Elad Activity Club. The project actually began weeks before when the eighth graders were guided regarding the special needs girls’ capabilities. They were taught how to create a game that will be within the girls’ ability to play, will be fun and will enable them to gain in skills. That was only half the project. The other half occurred last week when the girls themselves arrived, armed with the games they had created, and actually played, one on one, with a group of Downs Syndrome girls.
Who won? They all did! The experience was suffused with tremendous caring, warmth, and love from the side of the givers and of course, utter joy from the recipients at the opportunity to relate to ‘normal’ kids.
On the same day, as part of the life-skills program for the teenage group, our special girls, went for a fascinating educational tour of the Kupat Cholim (medical clinic). A marvelously patient nurse led the girls on the tour and explained to them, in an interesting, hands-on way, how one goes about visiting the Kupat Cholim and benefiting from their medical services.
Our deep thanks go to Frieda, the community relations director at Kupat Cholim, who arranged the guide and planned the informative, experiential tour.
Our sincerest thank you goes to the Activity Club director, Sarah, who works day and night for the success and benefit of the Club children, helping them to integrate, to the best of their abilities, into normal society . May you and the entire dedicated staff of the Activity Club be richly rewarded for your efforts and may you be blessed in all you do!
With much appreciation,
A grateful parent
To view a typical day at ‘the club’:
http://www.ezermizion.org/sites/ezer/_media/mediabank/1296_mb_file_e44fe.wmv
