Stories and Pathways

Shalom everyone… The ENP experiences continue to move this blogger to share. About a week ago (forgive the lapse in time once more, what else can you do when your computer goes up in smoke?), I had my second mission trip with ENP. Another unique experience indeed. At the CC and CD Mission, we had visitors from various federations in the United States come to visit the homes of some of the students that participate in ENP sponsored activities. I will spare you details about how the day was humid and sticky, how great the tuna sandwiches were and how a cat stole one of said tuna sandwiches because, frankly, this was all overshadowed by the success of the visit in which I participated. I was part of one of the sixteen simultaneous home visits that took place that day. The bus took us to Lod, a city located in the heart of Israel, but poor in resources and struggling to stabilize the city's infrastructure. Here, 43.3% percent of residents find themselves earning a minimum salary or

--> Last night, we began our “caravan camp” with a blast, literary, as we launched rockets into the night sky at Ethiopian National Project’s (ENP) Gadera Youth Centre (don’t worry these rockets where of the innocent variety intended only to teach the kids about aerodynamics, friction, gravity etc.) This was the first day of a two week travelling camp where a group of volunteers from all over the world (our group includes volunteers from America, Israel, Australia, South Africa, Poland and Uruguay) will be travelling to ENP’s various Youth Centres to run camp-like activities for the Ethiopian Youth. Our activities include science experiments, animation workshops, teamwork and empowerment exercises, public speaking lessons, yoga and whatever else we come up with along the way. The idea of holding a Summer Camp for Ethiopian youth originated with a group of MA students at Hebrew University’s Rothberg International School. One of the students, an Ethiopian man who lives in

Shalom, my name is Linda Castillo and I am the newest addition to the wonderful ENP blog. I am a study abroad student at Hebrew University 's Rothberg International School from the University of Pennsylvania . I will be starting my fourth, and final, year of college in the fall. I arrived in Israel with the intention of staying for one semester, approximately four months. Faced with the bitter idea that I would have to leave Israel , I decided to extend my stay for one year. I hope to volunteer with ENP for the rest of my stay. It has been a couple of weeks since my first mission with ENP which took place in Beit Shemesh. To most, the idea of a post about an experience that occurred "that long ago" may seem daunting. However, the impression it made is long lived and fresh. It was my first mission, and actually, my first time volunteering with ENP. I had already read the 5 Year Report on ENP's work, browsed through the site and received a general idea of