Students from AMIT Midreshet Art and Sciences Jr. and Sr. High School for Girls recently took part in a unique “make-a-thon” aimed at creating products to help children with disabilities.
The event took place at the Alyn Hospital in Jerusalem, the country’s only pediatric and adolescent rehabilitation facility. More than 100 people including hospital staff and experts from different fields were divided into groups that worked on prototypes for products that would help individual children with various disabilities.
The AMIT Modi’in girls met with the children being treated at Alyn and then got to work with product developers and high-tech industry veterans on ideas to aid in the kids’ rehabilitation. The products will ultimately undergo further refinement and development with the goal of attracting entrepreneurs and investors to create and market them.
One group came up with a gadget to help a girl without hands to button buttons; another group developed a computer-programmed motion sensor that is mounted on a paralyzed boy’s wheelchair and helps him move his arms, extend them, and even use them to play; a third group developed a product to help a child with motor-skills challenges to pick up and grasp pieces of paper.
The staff at Alyn were impressed with the girls’ inventions and even saw uses for them outside of the hospital with patients suffering from other illnesses, such as Parkinson’s disease.
Machshava Tova, an Israeli nonprofit that aims to close the opportunity gaps in Israel through the use of technology, helped organize the make-a-thon.
Children who take part in such activities develop compassion and see that they can have a positive impact on others, Yeela Lahav Raz, vice president of development and projects at Machshava Tova, told the Times of Israel.
One of the AMIT students who took part in the event agreed. “This was a moving experience that gave me a great feeling—I did something good to help others and also learned a lot and had fun,” she said.
