Children with special needs from Jerusalem plant trees for Tu Bishvat in the Neve Yaakov neighborhood. This special event, which brought much joy to the 120 children and their teachers, was made possible by KKL-JNF supporters in Germany.
Special needs children from various educational frameworks in Jerusalem went for a tree planting day in the city’s Neve Yaakov neighborhood. Participating in the event, which was made possible thanks to the support of friends of
KKL-JNF from Germany, were 120 children, including some with physical disabilities, autism, blindness and mental and developmental limitations.
“It’s important for us that children with special needs do everything that other children do, and what is more typical of the Tu Bishvat time of year than tree planting?” said Hila Ziv, Director of the Jerusalem Municipality Special Needs Department (Tzamid). “The students really enjoy the connection to nature and to the land, and there is also the educational value of contributing to the community and to the environment, along with reinforcing the love of Israel. When the children give of themselves, they get a sense of satisfaction and improve their self-image.”
The Tzamid department is responsible for culture, leisure and informal education for children and teenagers with special needs in Jerusalem, and acts with the goal of integrating them into all fields of activity together with the rest of the general public.
The day was organized by
KKL-JNF Education Division Director of Training and Educational Projects
Dudu Ashkenazi, who has been responsible for activities with Tzamid over the past twenty years. “The children are given an opportunity to go out into nature and to the forest,” he said. “We sponsor various activities in
KKL-JNF forests all year long, not only during Tu Bishvat. You can see in the children’s eyes what a great experience they’re having, and it fills me up with energy. Time and time again I discover that these people have the same abilities that everyone else does.”
Shamai Keinan, a member of the KKL-JNF Board of Directors and also a member of the organization’s educational committee, told the students about KKL-JNF’s work planting forests, building reservoirs and developing the country. He added that “for me, celebrating the tree planting holiday with special needs children is the most important of all our activities. You are demonstrating what love of Israel really means.”
The day began with game and activity stations, and the children learned by experience about Israel, its history, heritage and KKL-JNF’s part in its development. They located places on a giant map of the land of Israel, bounced a ball on a parachute with pictures of the country’s central sites, answered riddles as part of a game of snakes and ladders, and watched a demonstration of how a KKL-JNF firefighting truck works.
“The stations were really fun,” said 14 year-old Keren from the Ben Yehudah School. “We learned about the land of Israel and got to know about the KKL-JNF colors and what they symbolize: green is for the forest, blue is for water and brown is for mud.” And in fact, the ground was very muddy thanks to the much-needed rain that fell the previous night, so Keren’s definition was indeed quite accurate.
“It’s fun to go out of school rather than just another regular day of classes,” added 15 year-old Bar, who is also from the Ben Yehuda School.
According to Rivky Pollak, a teacher and a social coordinator at the Ben Yehudah School, the special day provided the students with an opportunity to connect to nature, something which is not always possible for all the families. “They’re children just like any other children, and they enjoy the same things. They’re happy to meet new people and to experience interactions that are different than those related to their studies at school. But what’s most important is that it’s so much fun.”
Menucha Trop, the principal of the Jerusalem School for the Blind, explained that a day like this makes it possible for the students to strengthen their connection to Israel through touch, smell and sound. “All children throughout the country plant trees on Tu Bishvat, and we’re no different than them,” she said. “Today we are connecting to the land, the heritage and to our culture. We’re not here just to enjoy the beautiful green scenery – by planting trees with our own hands we’re also contributing to the community and the environment.”
After the activity stations, the children sang and danced together. At the end of the day, they all went out to plant seedlings and herbs in the small forest grove next to the reservoir that supplies water to the local neighborhood. They weren’t the least bit concerned about walking through the muddy ground (in truth, a few of the teachers were worried about getting muddy, but they managed). The children and their teachers planted the seedlings in the soil of Israel, and if the children and their shoes were full of mud at the end of the day, well - that’s just part of the experience.
"It's fun to spend time with friends, to play and have fun together, and most of all, to plant seedlings," said 16-year-old Yoel from the Beit Rachel Strauss School. "I would like to thank the donors in Germany, with whose help we could leave school today and do something different than usual.”