When Amir arrived at the Riding Center in Kibbutz Maggal, we knew that he had cerebral palsy.  His walk was clumsy and restless; he would run from side to side, growling, and was unable to look anyone straight in the eye. He could not be left alone as he would simply get lost in the expanses of the stable. Two volunteers were assigned to be his escorts – one on Mondays and the other on Thursdays. They accompanied him to activities, learned to understand his speech and to run and play with him. They took him to the orchard to pick pomegranates and paid attention to him and hugged him.  We noticed pronounced improvement in his horseback riding as well as in his ability to hold and kick a football. His attitude to the dogs and other animals also improved.

In a conversation with his father several weeks ago, I learned that Amir had really changed and had become a “good boy,” obeying his mother and behaving well. All of this happened after his arrival at the Center.  In that same conversation, his father asked me: “What are you doing to him here? Do you hug him?” This conversation was very moving, allowing me to understand that because Amir’s volunteers would place their hands on his shoulder, creating a physical connection with him, Amir began to do the same with others, taking hold of people when speaking to them and stroking their arms. At home he began to behave the same way. In another conversation with the father, he told me that Amir had begun to speak. “He hadn’t spoken before?” I asked him, and he answered that he had not. When I asked whether he understood him, he replied that he did.

In a conversation with his teacher, I learned that a significant change had taken place in Amir’s learning abilities since he began coming to the Center. She also related that when Amir first arrived at the school, he was diagnosed as developmentally challenged (retarded) and today it was clear to all that they had been mistaken.

Today Amir looks people straight in the eye and it is clear that a clever child is looking at you. His speech is difficult and not clear but it exists. He still prefers football but it is no longer necessary to chase after him with concern; it is clear that now he will not run and disappear and that he knows and understands what he is doing.

Amir is one of twenty three children at our Center, each with his own story.

Rimona is the coordinator of the Riding Center.

Our deepest sympathies to Rimona Mizrachi on the tragic death of her son Ofer who was killed in the New Zealand quake