[Mdabs] fw: [nabs-l] trip to Israel for youth who are both Jewish and blind

Sun Mar 18 19:36:51 UTC 2012

FYI:

Chris Nusbaum

 ---- Original Message ------
From: Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com
Subject: [nabs-l] Trip to Israel for Youth who are Both Jewish 
and Blind
Date sent: Sat, 17 Mar 2012 16:05:41 -0600

Please forward this to anyone you know who might be interested.

 Israel on the Horizon   Summer Experience in Israel for Blind 
and Visually Impaired Youth   Summer 2012   Ofek Liyladenu Israel 
National Association of Parents of Blind and Visually Impaired 
Children, in conjunction with the Jewish Institute for the Blind 
in Jerusalem, are planning the first special Israel summer tour 
program for blind and visually impaired youth, ages 15 to 21.  
The pilot trip will be for twelve days, combining educational 
touring throughout the country with outdoor activities and social 
programs with Israeli youth.  The 2012 summer program has reached 
out to include visually impaired youth from North America, 
England and Australia.     The Israel experience has always been 
seen as an essential part of fostering Jewish identity and 
creating a bond between Jews around the world.  Today, over 
300,000 youth, 18 to 26 years old have participated in the Taglit 
Birthright program, bringing youth from all over the world to 
Israel for a 10 day educational experience.  Research reflects 
that this experience is powerful in influencing Jewish identity, 
a connection to Israel, and solidarity with the Jewish people.   
Where Israel once received high ratings as inaccessible to people 
with disabilities, today the Ministry of Tourism has made great 
efforts to make tourism more accessible to those with 
disabilities and tourist companies have sprung up offering 
accessibe tourism for all ages.    Potential highlights of the 
trip include: •    Jerusalem’s Old and New cities, including the 
Western Wall and Jerusalem’s unique markets •     Climbing Masada 
and swimming in the Dead Sea  • Visit to Bedouin tent and 
discussion of minorities in Israel  • Neot Kedomim, the biblical 
landscape reserve  • Sports including goal ball, tandem biking, 
horseback riding and swimming  •     Meetings with individuals 
and organizations involved in issues of disability rights in 
Israel, including Members of Knesset  •  Visit to Israel Defense 
Force base for a briefing and army experience.  We hope you’ll 
join us and tell your friends about the program.   For more 
information, and pre-registration contact:   Bob Fenton: 
bfenton at actcom.co.il

 Ofek Liyladenu  www.ofek-liyladenu.org.il Jewish Institute for 
the Blind

 ******************

 Ofek Liyladenu – Israel National Association of Parents of Blind 
and Visually Impaired Children
 Spring 2012

 Ofek Liyladenu – Israel National Association of Parents of Blind 
and Visually Impaired Children is an organization that advocates 
for the needs of the 3,000 blind and visually impaired children 
in Israel.  Established in 1997 by Guila Seidel, whose daughter 
Nellie was born blind, we provide a friendly supportive network 
for families, offer updated information, and initiate and 
implement innovative projects to maximize the integration of our 
children into mainstream society.  In addition to building a warm 
caring community for families and children, our wide range of 
activities benefit 20,000 visually impaired and blind adults 
throughout the country and promote awareness of the needs and 
rights of the blind among the general public in Israel.  The 
organization is operated by volunteers and two part-time staff 
members.

 Main Activities of Ofek Liyladenu (Our Children’s Horizon) 
include:

 Advocacy: Promoting solutions to the needs of our children and 
others with disabilities through advocacy in government and the 
Knesset.  We hold individual meeting with Members of Knesset, 
Knesset committees, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of 
Welfare and the National Insurance Institute.  This year, in 
conjunction with B’zchut – Israel Human Rights Center for People 
with Disabilities, we petitioned the High Court demanding that 
all educational materials, including matriculation exams, be made 
accessible in Braille, large print and audio format.

 Public Education and Awareness: “Seeing It Differently” is a 
project where blind youth lead an experiential workshop for 
non-visually impaired audiences through which they can convey the 
everyday challenges of being blind.  In addition, the chairperson 
of Ofek and parent volunteers devote time to media appearances 
and meet regularly with medical students, parents from 
kindergartens for the visually impaired, teachers and other 
groups.  Our annual conference is a platform for sharing new 
ideas and knowledge with parents and professionals and serves to 
promote awareness among the general public.

 Supporting Parents:  Parent volunteers provide practical advice, 
support and encouragement to other parents of blind children, 
thus building a warm, supportive network for families.  In 
addition, parent groups, a hotline, e-letter, bi-annual magazine 
and a website are all part of our wide support network, providing 
up-to-date information, referrals and advice.  Family gatherings 
held throughout the year give parents and siblings a safe caring 
environment in which to meet other families that cope with 
similar challenges.

 Special Programs: “Work on the Horizon”, a summer work program 
for high school youth, empowers and prepares youth for 
integration into the workforce and educates employers to the 
potential of the visually impaired.  Our Electronic Library (the 
first in Israel) provides online content including newspapers, 
magazines and books, which can be read in text to voice format or 
Braille.  Special workshops for adolescent girls deal with the 
specific challenges of their age group.  “Musical Dreams” offers 
subsidized music lessons to children and youth throughout the 
country; home tutoring provides extra educational support.  The 
Fund for Special Equipment subsidizes essential educational and 
medical equipment.

 “Ofek Liyladenu is a family of families, providing every parent 
with the support and tools needed to raise independent children 
that can integrate into the mainstream of society.  We insure 
that no one is left alone to cope with the complex challenges of 
raising a visually impaired child in Israeli society.”

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