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OTS Newsletter - Summer/Fall 2005A Special Program for Special Young WomenA year of Torah study and independent living in Israel, once an impossible dream for developmentally disabled young women, becomes reality through Darkaynu. Tikvah Juni had an unlikely dream for a young woman with Down syndrome: she wanted to spend a year living and learning in Israel, just as her older sisters had done after high school. A few years ago, that would have been impossible, but Tikvah's dream has now come true, thanks to Darkaynu, Ohr Torah Stone’s one-of-a-kind program for young women with developmental disabilities, located at Midreshet Lindenbaum. Today, the 21-year-old from Brooklyn, N.Y. is looking forward to shana gimel at Darkaynu - her third year of studying alongside students in the Midreshet Lindenbaum Maria and Joel Finkle Overseas Program and at the same time developing tools for independent living.
“I love learning new things, and I know that this is where I want to be,” says Tivkah, who, along with the program's 20 other participants, studies Torah topics in individualized classes, conducts a daily chavruta learning session with a different Midreshet Lindenbaum student each day and is acquiring vocational skills through a variety of work placements. “I've had an excellent year,” echoes Shayna Shaglo, 19, of Minneapolis, a first year Darkaynu participant who plans to return for shana bet (second year). Shayna enjoys her vocational training at a flower shop, where she cleans and arranges flowers, and a local catering establishment where she works with pastries, but reserves her highest praise for the program's Torah study classes. "We learn about how halacha relates to our lives, like being fair to people, and I really like talking to my chavrutot," she says. "Sidestreaming" Darkaynu was created by Elana Goldscheider, an educator who ran the program for special-needs campers at Camp Morasha in Pennsylvania. "Tikvah was one of the campers there," recalls Goldscheider, "and she kept asking me, ‘Why shouldn’t I be able to study in Israel? What about me?’" Goldscheider approached OTS and received an immediate, positive response. "Within minutes they said, 'Let's do it!'" she smiles. Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, founder and Chancellor of OTS, says that the decision to open the Darkaynu program was natural and fitting with OTS philosophy. “Not only does the program offer young women with developmental disabilities the opportunity to fulfill their dreams of studying in Israel,” he affirms, “but it also cultivates sensitivity and a responsibility to Klal Yisrael in participants of all Midreshet Lindenbaum’s programs - our nation’s most gifted academic leadership.”
Goldscheider, who moved to Israel in order to direct the program, explains that Darkaynu additionally provides its participants with the opportunity to learn valuable vocational and life skills. "Almost all Darkaynu students come from non-mainstreamed environments," she says. "In Darkaynu, they are ‘sidestreamed’ - that is, they learn together in their own group, but they live in the dormitory on the Yaacov and Chana Tilles Campus, and are an integral part of the Midreshet Lindenbaum student body for all meals and activities, such as a CPR course, overnights and field trips across the country, and celebrations like the fantastic siyum that took place here on Shavuot." Each Darkaynu participant is also hosted for one evening a week and one Shabbat each month by a local "adopted" family. The Darkaynu participants spend four hours each day at their work placements, where they receive ongoing support from employment coaches. "Our goal at Darkaynu, in addition to encouraging a love of Israel, is to improve the participants' life capabilities and self-esteem," Goldscheider continues. Tikvah Juni alternates between two work placements: clerical work at the office of a non-profit organization and hands-on caring for animals at the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem. Her duties there include traveling with small animals to different kindergartens to show children how to treat the creatures. "It's a big responsibility," she admits. "I'm responsible for both the animals and for the children." But, she insists, "being given the opportunity to do these types of important things on my own, for the first time in my life, is amazing." Darkaynu's third-year program, which will begin in the fall with five continuing students, aims to give the young women even more independence. "They will live together in an apartment, with supervision, and learn to shop, cook and keep house for themselves," Goldscheider says. "It's a big step, but I think I'm ready for it!" declares Tikvah.
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