In perfect harmony . . . Or singing with Shiri Maimon

This was no ordinary social evening. The air was electric with excitement. The group was not in its usual meeting place but in the lovely library of the Weil Center in Kfar Shmaryahu. We were all waiting with bated breath for the arrival of Israeli singer and star Shiri Maimon.

Last year, during one of the social sessions of ESRA's Center for Young Adults with Disabilities, the subject turned to dreams and wishes. What young adult doesn't have dreams? And Or's was to meet and sing with Shiri Maimon. Inbal, one of our superb and dedicated volunteers in this project, decided to try and make this dream come true. She wrote to Shiri's manager telling her about the project and the special young people in it and asking if Shiri would have an hour sometime to come and visit. As with most of these requests, nobody had high hopes of a reply. 

Thrilled . . . Yonatan with Shiri

 But Shiri is different and her manager is different. A visit was arranged and this was the night everyone had been waiting for – a perfect finish to the year's activities. Shiri arrived right on time and was introduced to each and every participant in the group. She sat, chatted, answered questions and then came the big moment when Or asked to sing a song together with her. Or chose the song and trembling from excitement, stood next to Shiri and sang to the group. It was one of those perfect moments when participants, volunteers, visitors and workers knew that something special had been achieved.

Dror Aloni, Mayor of Kfar Shmaryahu, who always takes care of this group – from the macro to the micro – made sure the kids had a lovely bouquet to present to Shiri and the evening ended with hugs, kisses, autographs and a taste of life at its best.

Hugs . . . Sarit meets Shiri

A big thanks to Dror, without whom this group would not exist, to Inbal for her initiative, to Noga, our ESRA coordinator of this project for many years, to Leslie, Yehudith, Roni, Hadar, Shiran and Jennie, the volunteers in this project and especially to Eynat Lavi, who leads the project and has brought it to new levels of interest for this special group.