Stories and Pathways

My name is Sam Blake, and I'm currently studying abroad from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.  I was given the opportunity to intern at the Ethiopian National Project this year, and my primary role will be writing about my experience in the youth centers and various ENP projects for this blog and other media outlets. My first true experience with the ENP was a trip with the project's director, Grace Rodnitzki, to a youth center in Petach Tikvah, a suburb of Tel Aviv.  Grace explained there was to be an American tour group coming to learn about the project and see it in action; this was important, she went on, largely because many of these people would be connected to various American Jewish organizations which provide funding crucial to the ENP's success.  It was a great first opportunity for me to learn about the organization I would be contributing to for my time in Israel.   Along the 45-minute-ish drive from Jerusale

Best part of today: meeting with and saying a sweet goodbye to Dagitu and Baush! After finishing the book, In God's Name, we answered the questions of who the characters were, what was the problem, and what was the solution. In this particular story, every character had a different name for God. They finally came together, saw each other's reflections, and called God the name One. The girls loved the illustrations and the idea that each person can think of God differently, AND that they could come together. We shared snacks and addresses, took pictures, and wished we could continue. I gave them each a phrase book, telling them they should study it! Daily! They know English is useful and important to know, even as they devote some of their time this summer to studying Amharic and Mathematics. What touched me most was a beautiful letter they had written, which they read to me, thanking me for volunteering to help them with English. What lovely young people, who cared enoug

"You Are Not Alone" was the subject of today's lesson, another song. This was more of a traditional love song. We then switched to a book called Elijah's Angel, the story of a friendship between an African-American Christian man and a Jewish boy. Avi joined us--hooray! He has an excellent command of Hebrew's nuances, so he can better understand shades of meaning in English. What a pleasure. Perhaps this is due to his schooling. He is very bright! Something I noticed is that Elias pays attention to the names of the authors and illustrators of the books I bring in. In this particular case, the illustrator had a very long name. Avi laughed and remarked how that would be a challenging name to write on one's te'udat zehut--certificate of identification. The book referenced American black slavery and the Underground Railroad. Tomorrow we will finish the book and say goodbye, with the help of Stevie Wonder lyrics.

7/15 Song lyrics are powerful teaching tools. I've known this for as long as I've been a student of the Torah. And American song lyrics even have their place in education, as evidence by the great interest my students here have had in We Are The World. They have asked for other lyrics as well. Today I was intrigued to see some new faces sitting down at the table. It seems that the English teacher (or the chance to learn English) is interesting, and the regulars bring someone new to meet me, check me out, see what the fuss is about. So I met Trngo, and Bobeh. Trngo seemed to feel that there was not much I could teach her, quickly taking a pen and writing words down faster than her friend could. Though hesitant to read out loud, she finally joined in. She seemed impatient with me, finding the story illogical. It was challenging. However, Dagitu hung in there, and was able to address the results and solutions to problems in the narrative. The boys: Again, they were not

7/9 I shared a book with Dagitu and Bayush this morning about Pesach (Passover) around the world. The section on Ethiopians was somewhat interesting to them, though it describes the world of their parents and grandparents more than theirs. They were excited to see the map yet had not idea how to read it. They were most interested in the recipe that accompanies each chapter, though the one described was nothing they had eaten. It used matza meal, which they did not understand/have a context for. Yet, they did recognize noog, an Ethiopian sesame seed paste that they love. They still enjoy some native foods, which are available here, along with the pots in which to cook them. They celebrate Pesach like more modern Israelis, complete with an egg and a Haggada. They were less knowledgeable about traditional Ethiopian ways of observing it. 2 boys didn’t show…2 did and one did not like the lesson, which began with a discussion on racism. Elias felt that people are people, no matter whe

The topic of one of my sessions today was the meaning of the following song: Title: Michael Jackson - We Are the World lyrics There comes a time When we heed a certain call When the world must come together as one There are people dying And it's time to lend a hand to life The greatest gift of all We can't go on Pretending day by day That someone, somewhere will soon make a change We are all a part of God's great big family And the truth, you know love is all we need [Chorus] We are the world We are the children We are the ones who make a brighter day So let's start giving There's a choice we're making We're saving our own lives It's true we'll make a better day Just you and me Send them your heart So they'll know that someone cares And their lives will be stronger and free As God has shown us by turning stone to bread So we all must lend a helping hand [Chorus] We are the world We are the children We are the

Today: down to the business of figuring out a story's characters, problem, solution. Probably the challenge of every language learner to --you get the content but can't communicate well about it because you don't have the vocabulary. One girl asked for Michael Jackson's song about feeding the hungry.. if we can read and translate it. Our books have included Sandy Sasso's In God's Name, and a book called Stellaluna, about a bat who has to accommodate to life with birds. I chose these because of their themes of variety and tolerance, acceptance of difference and even embracing those differences, teaching each other. A bit more... A classroom I work in seems to be in the "school's over, what a mess" stage... a few doors down is a clean, state of the art computer lab! So I cleaned up and set up my room, and I was all set to use it and visit the computer room when I discovered a few things-- -only one student of my group of 4 had shown up and did

Judy's experiences in Israel continue… 7/7 Today was a day for Hop on Pop, just for me to get a sense of what I was dealing with. The girls felt successful with this! It is hard to believe coming from the States, that HS girls were finding Dr. Seuss so interesting. I was truly afraid of insulting them, but they really enjoyed it. I also showed them how I use the Internet, which was rather foreign to them. I thought it might be a great tool for furthering their English reading ability. They seem to live in a kind of bubble of poverty and ignorance in some ways. One student didn’t come simply because she hadn’t the money for bus fare that day. 7/8 The day began with Yisraela, who walked from Armon HaNatziv to German Colony to study with me, a good 40 minutes. It was wonderful to sit with her in Café Hillel, soaking up the mellow jazz, enjoying a great pastry and coffee, and working with this super-motivated young woman. The topic: CD reviews. It wasn’t all that difficult, a

ENP's newest volunteer in Israel is Judy Massarano, an English teacher from Berkeley, California who came to Israel for the express purpose of volunteering with ENP. Judy is volunteering in Jerusalem and sharing her vast teaching experience with ENP youth. Her blog posts are written in a free-style, stream writing format. ENP hopes that Judy will inspire you to come volunteer with us here in Israel as well! 6/28-29 Early impressions I always wanted to volunteer and specifically, learn about this population. Earlier trips had been as a student, then 22 years later as a tourist, then as an educator with a group looking at how Israel is taught in America, then finally as a chaperone for an 8th grade school trip. it was time to give back. I met 3 girls, Azanash, Menna, and Merdana, all in 9th grade, all wanting to become more successful English speakers. They seemed typical in some ways, but have less affect than most teenage girls, either American or Israeli that I know. Th

ENP intern Tamara Maltiel recently attended an ENP mission at the ENP Rehovot Youth Outreach Center. Below is her account of her experience: On a recent mission to Rehovot’s Outreach Center, I was talking to a group of teenage girls who frequent the center. I asked them what they like to study and one mentioned that she liked to sing. She told me that the girls had all made a singing group together and wrote their own songs. It didn’t take much to get the girls to agree to give us an impromptu performance. The song I heard was so much more than what I expected. Not only was it musically beautiful, but the lyrics were obviously incredibly meaningful to the girls as they sang. It was a song about trying so hard to reach your goals. One verse says, “I need to aim higher or be more certain of myself/So that I don’t give up, even if it’s hard/I’ll push myself uphill until I’ve tasted success.” The song also talks about relying on oneself to have the strength to make it through life. H

I must say I have been very busy which I love! Last Monday, I went with Daniel from the Ethiopian National Project (ENP) to Beit Shemesh to paint apartments. We arrived and no one else was there. No supplies, and no one was home in the designated apartments. So, we waited, and waited and finally some people came and Daniel bought a weed eater and the yard was cleaned. I had to get back to Kiryat Malachi for a program that evening, so I left not having painted. I hear that the work was done later that day and the next day. That is all that mattered. (40 soldiers were supposed to lend a helping hand but had to cancel at the last minute due to a Civil Defense exercise that took place in Israel the next day. Other volunteers arrived after work.) That evening, I had the opportunity to attend the dedication of 2 benches that the children from the Science Class had made with people who go to a club. They all have Cerebral Palsy. All 80 high schools in Israel are partnered with a club for di

Terrie Sherman hails from Tucson Arizona. She is participating for the third year in the Partnership 2000 TIPS program. After meeting Grace and Nigist in Tucson, Terrie decided to volunteer with ENP in Kiryat Malachi. A teacher of English and special education for 30 years, Terrie is sharing her vast experience with ENP's students. Where does time go? It seems to just fly away! I have been very busy and am doing some new things. I am with 7th and 8th graders at Amal 1 High School in an English class. They act the same as American 7th and 8th graders. They become very shy when I bring out my camera and do not want me to take pictures of them. We are working on past, present and future irregular verbs with 8th graders and physical attributes with the 7th graders. The kids understand and can speak much better than they write. I am spending time each week helping Daniel, the volunteer coordinator of the Ethiopian National Project (ENP) improve his speaking in English. Daniel is w

For many Americans, President Obama's inauguration was a special moment. It proved that who you are and what you strive for are far more important than race. To me, the theme "A New Birth of Freedom" was fitting and showed that everyone does have the freedom to reach his or her goals. I watched Obama make his speech from a teen center in Arad called Tzelti. Tzelti is an afterschool center for Ethiopian teens-- a program of the Ethiopian National Project. As another American volunteer and I sat watching, completely glued to the screen, the teens came over to see what was so interesting. Although they knew of Obama and knew he had won, they didn't fully understand the importance to us. We explained that history was being made. We told them that Obama's father had been an immigrant to the US. Obama had grown up a black man in a predominantly white nation. During his years living in Indonesia, he learned what it was like to feel different from the community around

Everyday, Ethiopian students in Gedera get out of class in the early afternoon, and face the task of occupying themselves. At a loss f or productive programming, some have chosen the less respectable road. However, thanks to ENP , there's the מרכז נוער, Youth Center, that opens at 4pm, and offers a spacious gaming room with a pool table and lounge chairs, a computer room where children can play computer games and browse, as well as athletic programs. The Center gets 100-130 students each day. I had conversations with a ninth grader and a twelfth grader, who described the social situation in the area, and the success of the Youth Center in keeping children off the streets. Also, twice a week Scholastic Assistance classed are offered to help students with homework. They also discussed a youth leadership program where some of the children can develop programming ideas and then apply for funding and make their dreams realities. The ENP Field Coordinator was very helpful in intro

This was my first experience in an Ethiopian-Israeli community. I arranged to meet the ENP Field Coordinator at the local Community Center in Beit Shemesh , and once I arrived I discovered that there was going to be a meeting with the parents in the community. Seeing the parents reflected just how distinctive this culture is from others in Israel. Tattoos on the forehead and jaw were common, and many men and woman had traditional garb, such as intricately designed shawls. All the women had covered heads, and the men either wore Jewish kippot or sports caps. Amharic was spoken language in the circles of adults prior to the event, but I had a short conversation with one mother in Hebrew. She had moved to Israel three years ago, and had learned Hebrew from her son, who was now fifteen years old and studying at a Yeshiva in Jerusalem. She did not know how to write Hebrew, though, and relied on her children for help. The ceremony itself was a meeting with the leaders of the community