Omer will never forget the day his dream came
true. Despite his physical disabilities, Omer joined the Nes Tziona Sektzia
soccer team for the field practice that guaranteed the team’s moving up to the
National League.
13-year-old Omer has cognitive developmental
disabilities and lives at ALEH Moriah in Gedera along with other residents with
various disabilities. As part of his regular schedule, Omer participates in
therapeutic rehabilitation and attends ALEH’s on-premises special education
school.
This year, ALEH’s incredibly dedicated National
Service volunteers initiated a new program at ALEH Moriah in Gedera: Making
Dreams Come True, in which they realize a dream for each resident, according to
his/her area of interest. Omer loves to play soccer and can even kick a ball
like a professional, so it was only natural that Omer’s dream was to play with
professionals.
ALEH Moriah’s resourceful National Service
girls didn’t hesitate. They contacted social activist Sivan Avishag Levy who in
turn got in touch with Avi Ludrick, owner of the engineering firm A. Ludrick.
In the past, Avi administered the Maccabi Shearim soccer team and he still has
plenty of contacts with movers and shakers in the sports’ world, which made it
easy for him to contact the Sektzia administration. CEO Ronen Zeigerman and
owner Eli Cohen immediately raised the gauntlet, agreeing to make Omer’s dream
come true.
On April 22, the entire Nes Tziona team waited
for Omer, presenting him with a team shirt when he arrived and a soccer ball
signed by the each of the players. Team members then invited Omer to the field,
warmly including him in their practice as a team regular. After practice,
fellow team members presented Omer with a chocolate soccer ball, cake and
candy. Omer enjoyed a unique day of fun, running on the open field, loving the
huge expanse and the numerous balls rolling around in every direction.
According to Avi Ludrick, having Omer join the
team was a great privilege. “The wonderful privilege of making a dream come
true came our way. When you do things based on giving and love, wonderful
things happen. As far as I’m concerned, this was a special mission, over and
above making a dream come true for a boy who would never be able to achieve
this in his day-to-day life. I think that we have to publicize this and show
the entire country how much the organization (ALEH) gives to residents with
disabilities, enabling them to experience life and live like everyone else.”
Naama Sudkovitz, director of ALEH Moriah in
Gedera added, “We were extremely excited to see how Avi and Sivan and the
entire Nes Tziona team got together for the benefit of our special resident.
The special light of people with disabilities, and the understanding that they
are an integral part of society will bring significant social change to the
State of Israel, in the way people relate to people with disabilities and
accept the other within society.”
No comments:
Post a Comment