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President Shimon Peres congratulates budding engineers Tespai, Shalom and Rata.

RobOrde, the award-winning robot

Hof Carmel, Israel

A study conducted by the School of
Social Work at the University of Haifa
found that Yemin Orde graduates are
well integrated into Israeli society with
a level of education higher than the
national average. In addition,
they reported satisfaction
with their education and have
demonstrated a high degree
of social commitment and a
willingness to contribute to
society. Last but not least, 90
percent of those interviewed
said they were satisfied or
very satisfied with their lives.
In addition to the bud-
ding engineers and techni-
cians who will contribute to
the revitalization of Israel's
high-tech sector, Yemin Orde
graduates include a CEO
of a nonprofit organization, Israel's
first Ethiopian attorneys and Col. Zion
Shamker, the first Ethiopian to achieve
that army rank.
For the robotics team, the trip to
Atlanta wasn't limited to time in the
frenzied and competitive environment of
the Georgia Dome. Thanks to a generous
donor, the 25 teenagers — including stu-
dents from Belarus and Kazakhstan, in
addition to Ethiopia — got to play. They
shopped at Target, toured the Aquarium
and rode the rides at Six Flags. What a
thrill for kids who were, just a few years
ago, waiting in refugee camps for their
life-altering move to Israel.

T

hree years ago, Tespai, Shalom
and Rata left a refugee camp in
Ethiopia to settle into life in the
Yemin Orde Youth Village near Haifa.
In April of this year, they received rec-
ognition from Israeli President Shimon
Peres and traveled to the U.S. as part of
the team that won first place in Israel's
FIRST national robotics competition.
New Hampshire inventor Dean Kamen
launched FIRST (For Inspiration and
Recognition of Science and Technology)
20 years ago to inspire young people.
This year's annual international FIRST
championship drew participation from
across the U.S. and 28 foreign countries.
Sparking interest in science and tech-
nology is particularly important in Israel,
where the current slump in the high-tech
industry has put a temporary damper on
the excitement for careers in high tech
that fueled so much success beginning in
the late 1990s.
Enter Yemin Orde's FIRST team of bud-
ding engineers and technicians. They
received a box containing parts and
intricate rules just six weeks before the
national qualifying rounds in Tel Aviv.
Many hours of preparation followed
under the guidance of a dedicated math
teacher.
Volunteers from the Israel navy, the
team's sponsor, tutored them, but it's
almost inconceivable how these young
people outmaneuvered 50 other teams

A34

June 4 . 2009

for the first-place designation in their
home country when the field included
students from Israel's most prestigious
high schools.
RobOrde, the name given to Yemin
Orde's custom-built robot,
placed 53rd out of a field of
350 in the international com-
petition in Atlanta. This feat is
especially notable since a rival
team had to operate RobOrde
on Shabbat when one segment
of the trials fell on that day.
Maybe it's not so inconceiv-
able considering the general
accomplishments of Yemin
Orde's unique program. This
haven for world Jewry's needy
children, named after legend-
ary British Major General Orde
Wingate, was established in the
early 1950s not long after the establish-
ment of the State of Israel itself. Right
now, more than 500 immigrant, homeless
and at-risk children from 22 countries
around the world are being educated in
an atmosphere that cultivates self-esteem
and develops leadership skills.
The Yemin Orde model of residential
education aims to change the context in
which these children learn to give them
skills to succeed in modern life. In the
case of the Ethiopians, especially, this
means respecting where they come from
and being attentive to their experience
of the way knowledge is passed from
elders.

President Peres has said Yemin Orde
is Israel "as it should be." The journey of
Tesai, Shalom, Rata and their classmates
shows Israel as it can be. LI

Chaim Peri, an authority on the education and

absorption of immigrants to Israel, has been

director of the Yemin Orde Youth Village since

1978.

Answering
Israel's Critics

The Charge
The 57-nation Islamic Conference
accused Israel last week of "crimes,"
and said it would not seek relations
with the Jewish state until it makes
peace with the Palestinians.

The Answer

It is hypocritical that Islamic
Conference countries, most of which
are dictatorships, single out Israel — a
legitimate, moral democracy — for
criticism.

- Allan Gale,

Jewish Community Relations Council

of Metropolitan Detroit

© Jewish Renaissance Media June 4, 2009

