Closing ceremony of the 2013-2014 Yes I Can program

In the context of the work of Kol Israel Haverim in Yeruham, Sunday, June 15th the closing ceremony of the 2013-2014 Yes I Can program was held in the Yeruham community center.
After admiring pupils' artistic achievements around a delicious lunch buffet, the students presented one of their projects: "Yeruham on the Map." They located and named each town square on a geolocation website. Thanks to this initiative everyone can now accurately navigate around Yeruham.

Other presentations dealt with topics such as the history of Islam. A particularly striking arts & craft project vividly revealed the daily lives of students, in particular their feelings towards their learning disabilities and the numerous challenges they face.

Michael Bitton, the mayor of Yeruham, congratulated the children for their involvement in the life of their city. He alluded to the name of the program, Yes I Can, which refers to the 2008 campaign slogan of President Barack Obama. "If he made it," he reminded, "so can all of you."

Mayor Bitton called education a top priority to his city. In particular, he celebrated the success and the importance of the collaboration between Yeruham and Kol Israel Haverim - Alliance.

In closing, Yehuda Maimram - director of Kol Israel Haverim - made the parallel between the Yes I Can program and Jewish tradition. Like the explorers whose adventures we read in parashat Chela'h Lekha. In this Parasha, we learned that the explorers saw the earth of Israel and the fruits of the land in a bad manner, while they could have seen it all in a different way.

Like them, we have the choice to look at the world and the tools available to us in the way we choose. We can consider participating students' concentration and hyperactivity disabilities as insurmountable obstacles, and resign ourselves to their academic failure. Or, we can see the extraordinary potential of these children, just waiting to be developed, and do everything we can to provide them with the appropriate tools to promote their development and success.

It's important to us to be thankful to all our partners, among them: the Education Ministry, The National Security Ministry, the ORT network, Gazit-Globe company, the Yeruham municipality, and of course Kol Israel Haverim.
Without them, our daily work in Yes I Can program won't be possible, thus our partnership is essential.

Congratulations to the students, their teachers, program director Niva Kapeliuk, and Yael Vishnevich for putting this memorable afternoon.

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