(PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)
Children cared for by ALEH, a facility for children with severe multiple disabilities, on Tuesday, 10 Elul, visited the Givat Mordechai fire station in the capital.
Firefighters from the station, accompanied by the training section of the station, hosted dozens of students from the ALEH Center in Jerusalem together with their families for a communal day at the station.
Deputy Commander Eyal Cohen and his subordinates, including the training head of the station, Dani Shemaya, warmly welcomed the students at the entrance to the station, and guided them with sensitivity and dedication during the tour of the station. During the visit, the students watched a video demonstrating the work of the firefighters, watching the firefighters perform various fire and rescue activities, including extinguishing a variety of fires, including a burning car, and rescue of trapped persons by the special rescue unit of firefighters and rescuers.
Some of the youth volunteers at the station are related to some of the disabled children and the volunteers and visitors alike wore uniforms and went up to look at Jerusalem with the help of a new high-powered fire-fighting crane. They received a demonstration about the fire engines and even got to travel with the firefighter and were particularly excited to meet with the dog Casey, who helps the firefighters in their work in the investigation of fires.
The visitors, all young people with developmental disabilities who move through wheelchairs and walkers, had a realistic feeling of being rescuers as they wore the uniform and got onto and in the trucks. At the end of the visit, the firefighters gave each of the children a farewell gift.
The event took place as part of the worldview that the encounter between people with disabilities and healthy people is necessary for the community to remove the physical barriers, to recognize the differences and to understand that we are all equal people, even if outwardly everyone looks different.
The mother of 9-year-old Shirly said emotionally: “The whole family is important, not only because of our ability to spend time together, but also for the brothers who are not familiar with other families like us. They see that they are not alone, and they are just like any child who has a brother with some disability.” One of Shirly’s siblings is a volunteer at the station.
Jerusalem Fire Department Commander Eyal Cohen: “The firefighters in Jerusalem and I were very excited to meet the members of the ALEH organization and their dear families.
“The children and their families are faced with difficult challenges in their personal lives, and today they came to us for a brief respite with this powerful experience in which they met and experienced for the first time, part of the varied capabilities of the firefighting and rescue system in general and in Jerusalem in particular. They spoke with firefighters about their experiences, their routines and the emergency situations, watched a wonderful performance and even received a personal gift from the firefighters at the station…”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem/Photo Credit: חדשות רוטר)