"I learned from scratch and now I want to teach others": The moving story of "Akimarket"

Every morning, 27-year-old Eden Asais, diagnosed with Down syndrome, arrives at the employment center of the Akim organization in Afula. "It's not that easy to get up at 8:00," she says, "but the moment you walk through the door and meet the staff and friends - the fatigue passes, it's worth it."

Working a few tables away is Anna Brodsky, 49, diagnosed with an intellectual disability. "It's not easy for me to get up in the morning either. But I do it and look forward to coming back here every evening."

In addition to the employment center in Afula, where Eden and Anna operate, Akim runs 15 employment and training centers across the country, which provide a daily framework for hundreds of people with disabilities. There, they learn and professionalize alongside other people with intellectual disabilities who work in ceramics, textiles, wood, and other crafts.

"Our goal is to simulate the free labor market and promote our graduates to go out and work, to receive a salary," says Adi Rahum, manager of the Afula and Gilboa cluster at the organization and operations manager of the 'Akimarket' website. "We are strict here about arriving on time, dress code, and procedures. Just like they would be required to do outside."

Almost two years have passed since Eden arrived at the center. "At first it was hard for me to settle in, both with the friends and with the work itself," she says. Today she already makes ceramic vessels herself, and gets to watch the vessels she created being sold. "Of all the vessels we sell, I like creating stands for Shabbat candles the most," she explains. "I come from a religious home, and when I make a stand for candles, I feel like I'm creating something that is connected to me."

"I met friends and learned to sew"

Anna has been at the center for seven years. She immigrated to Israel from Ukraine with her mother, stayed in a therapeutic day framework, and according to Rahum, the staff identified that she was capable of more. "When she arrived, her life was very limited. We identified that she had the potential to do more significant things and we moved her to the employment center."

Since then, Anna's life has changed in almost every aspect. "I met a partner at the employment center, we travel and eat together. I met friends and learned to sew," she says. "In Ukraine, I barely worked. Today I know how to create tablecloths and pillows, I learned from scratch - and I want to teach all the new people who will arrive."

Now their work is also going outside. Recently, Akim launched "Akimarket", an internet website where ceramic vessels, textiles, and home products created by participants in the employment centers are sold to the general public.

"All the money goes directly and in a fair distribution to the creators as they deserve. We don't take a cut from it," Adi says and adds, "It was important to us that the customer receives a high-quality product, that they don't feel they bought it because of who is behind the product, from a place of pity," Rahum asserts. "We thought about useful and practical products that fit the home and are in line with fashion. The customer pays and gets value for their money."

Every step in the path of the products - from the idea to the customer's home, passes through the hands of the activists at the employment center. Eden, Anna, and their friends create, choose colors, and even take part in the quality control of the finished items. Even when an order comes into the site, it goes to a group at the center, which collects the products and transfers them for packaging and shipping. "Later on, we plan to train them to also answer phone inquiries and customer service," Adi shares.

And despite the quality control, you won't find two plates on the site that look exactly the same. "We don't have an assembly line," says Rahum. "There will always be differences between the products, because it's handmade. You can identify what is Anna's product and what is Eden's product - everyone has their own personal touch," she says with a smile and adds, "There are products that were literally born as a result of mistakes." This happened when one of the plates came out asymmetrical during the creation process, and instead of giving up on it, the center chose to turn it into a dish for dips.

Soon, Eden and Anna are also expected to meet the people who choose to take their products home.

Alongside the site, Akim is establishing two physical stores where graduates of the frameworks will integrate. One in Afula, where a branch is expected to open in November, where products will be sold and workshops will be held, "It's very moving and heartwarming, I'm waiting for it to happen," says Eden. And the second in Tel Aviv, where the plan is even broader.

Between September 8th and 10th, a special pop-up for the holidays will open at 17 Oppenheimer Street, where Akim creators will sell packages and gifts for the holiday, and later "Cafe Kamo-ni" (Like Me Cafe) and "Studio Kamo-cha" (Like You Studio) will also open there, which will be operated by graduates of the frameworks - from preparing the dishes and serving in the cafe, to service in the store and facilitating workshops in the studio. "There will be a manager and there will be instructors, but the ones who will operate the place are them," says Rahum. For Eden and Anna, this is another action, one that they will learn to do themselves on the way to an independent life.

Sigal Peretz Yahalomi, CEO of Akim Israel: "We believe in the abilities of people with disabilities to develop themselves and also contribute in the world of employment. Like me, like you. Akim's vocational training centers work to help people go through their journey so that they can realize their abilities, improve them, and advance to integration into the labor market."