a guest blog from Sophia Berman!
Yesterday morning we visited Kishorit, a village geared towards the quality of life and development of disabled adults. Formerly a kibbutz, the village was established in the early ‘90s by the parents of children with various mental and physical disabilities. Residents can live in the village when they turn 21, and are welcome to stay there for the duration of their lives.
Various activities are set up for the residents, both for therapeutic value and growth, but also to bring in a revenue stream for the village. We visited Kishorit’s main “activity centers:” a wooden toy factory called Tsa’a-tso’atz, horse stables, the bakery, a dog kennel, and a goat farm. Two hundred of the goats were donated by the Pittsburgh community, and it was great for us to see yet another example of how our partnership is benefiting the lives of others.
The toy factory was my favorite. Tsa’a-tso’atz, in English, is Pastel Toys, and all the toys were painted with various pastel colors, then the edges sanded to expose the wood underneath. The sides of a shelving unit or table had cut-outs of different animals or primary shapes, and the cut out pieces were then used to make other toys, such as animals with small wheels, a bowling set, or a mobile. It is easy to overlook a detail such as this, but it further illustrates both the practicality, care and attention to detail that is given to Kishorit. The grounds are beautiful, the landscape specifically chosen to enhance development and quality of life of the residents.
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meet Evan Durst...
Amidst an amazing week in Karmiel, last evening our group went to the Karmiel Children’s Village. The Village is a place for children from neglectful or broken homes to come and experience some semblance of normal life as they grow up. The heart of the Village is 17 families who choose to come and serve as parents to the children in the village. Each family brings themselves and their children and are assigned 11 other children whose ages range from 5 to 16. The adults serve as mentors to their families, but, as we discovered, they are not trying to replace the childrens’ parents. In most cases, the children can leave the village every other weekend and visit their biological families.
When we came to the village, the group split up and visited with a family. My group sat and talked to Ms. Bartan. She has been in the village with her husband for 11 years. Initially, she took in children from the village when they left for the weekend, but had no family to visit. The impact of interacting with these kids, even for a short amount of time, convinced Ms. Bartan and her husband that they needed to be involved full-time. Though at first they only intended to work in the Children’s Village for a year or two, the Bartans has stayed and Ms. Bartan said that they intend to stay at least until their current group of kids grows old enough to move away.
Visiting the Children’s Village was an extraordinary experience for me. The ability of the families to sacrifice years of their life, their privacy, and what must be a whole lot of sleep is remarkable and demonstrates a level of selflessness with which most people are unfamiliar. The concept of the village is a more compassionate version of the orphanage system in the United States Israel
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| Evan guest blogging and eating some delicious pizza. |
Thanks Beth for being the first one to do this!
So here it goes...
We just had our final meeting before our J'Burgh group of 15 leaves for Israel on Wednesday. We have such a great group traveling together and have already put in lots of time preparing for the trip- mainly in our fundraising. I have been humbled, to say the least, by the support of my friends and family. When I found out how much money we'd each need to raise, I thought that there was just no way it would be completed in time. It turns out that the toughest part of fundraising is just getting started. In the past two months I have received donations from 33 people from 14 different states! We have all been working hard to reach our goals. One of the parts of the trip that I am most looking forward to is being reminded that what seems like a small gesture can actually make a huge difference in the lives of those in need. The fundraising experience alone has already proven that.
I know that our group will do great things for the people of Israel that we will be spending our time with. We are a creative, caring, and colorful group. We bring our own past experiences in Israel with us and know that with hard work and commitment to ourselves and each other, that we can achieve the goals we have for the trip. It is exciting to know that we will be part of J'Burgh's first trip to Israel and I'm so grateful to be part of the experience.
Thank you so much to Partnership 2000 and all of our individual donors. If you would still like to donate you still can! http://www.firstgiving.com/hilleljuc/Event/ jburghisraeltrip
Looking forward to sharing our experiences during and after the trip!
