Planning and Expectations

By: Jessica Crowell

Each Thursday, I travel to the youth outreach center in Beit Shemesh with fellow volunteer, Nisha Khorasi, to spend time with the Ethiopian-Israeli youth. During our first two visits, Nisha and I enjoyed meeting the kids and becoming familiar with the setup. On our third visit to Beit Shemesh, we were hoping to liven up the youth outreach center by incorporating our own activities and games to create a fun learning environment. We arrived with a plan. It was going to be an exciting and enriching experience.

Contrary to our expectations, the third Beit Shemesh visit did not go exactly according to plan. While we expected a dozen or so kids to be waiting at the Youth Outreach Center, we only found one. Thursdays, equivalent to Friday afternoons in the United States, are slower than most days. When students are released from school on Thursdays, their weekends begin. Since our activities were meant for a larger group, we had to change our game plan a bit. We did not have plan B because we did not expect to be in this situation. As I tried quickly formulating plan B in my mind, the Ethiopian-Israeli boy approached us and smiled. We introduced ourselves and struck up a casual conversation about his background, his life and his interests over a game of pool. We shared music and videos, taking turns picking songs and singing along. He loves English, evident by the fact that we had very little trouble communicating. His maturity far exceeded my expectations of a boy his age and it was like talking to a peer. Our pleasant visit with him ended when another regular outreach attendee walked in the room. It was a girl and we met her once before. She came and sat next to us in the computer room, eager to practice her English-speaking skills. While her English proved to be much better than most of the youth we interact with at the outreach center, she told us that she is in the lower-level class at school. She expressed her desire to be in the upper-level class with her friends. Keeping this in mind, we implemented a new rule: No more Google translate. When she had trouble coming up with English words, we encouraged her to work around it and find a new way to express her thoughts. She was tempted to take the easy road and begged us to let her use the online translator, but we knew she could do it; She needed to believe it too. An hour or so passed and it was time for us to leave Beit Shemesh. It was a shame having to end our time with her so abruptly, but it was comforting to know that we were saying goodbye to a more confident girl. She was glowing with pride as we complimented her skills and encouraged her to keep practicing. After a few more hugs and thanks all around, our day was done. It was indeed an exciting and enriching experience.

As I reflect on this visit, I consider the product of expectations, plans, outcomes and the ultimate goal. In various situations, people have an ultimate goal and create a plan to reach this goal based on expectations. When events begin to unfold, they do not always go according to plan and this can create an obstacle to successfully reaching the ultimate goal. I think about the journey that the Ethiopians took from their homeland to the Promised Land. They crossed the rough terrain of Sudan, thirsty and hungry, to reach Israel- that was their ultimate goal. Many Ethiopians were not aware of the dangers along the way and probably did not know what to expect; that was the risk they were willing to take. Their longing to reach the Promised Land drove them home without accurate expectations and without a sufficient plan.  To me, this reveals the type of character it would take to survive such a journey. The Ethiopians had to be strong, mentally and physically. They had to be flexible, ready to adapt to the unexpected barriers that lie ahead. They had to be resourceful, clever and optimistic. Above all, it was their strength, persistence and yearning for Jerusalem that allowed them to reach their ultimate goal. It is a character to be admired, as I can rarely survive a day without a set Plan A, Plan B and Plan C. Maybe I can learn something from this reflection. Extraordinary events and meaningful experiences do not always follow a plan. While planning is definitely an much needed component to many tasks and efforts, I believe that certain characteristics, attitudes and the willingness to reach the ultimate goal are better indicators of a successful outcome rather than how closely one is able to follow the original plan.

As I continue visiting Beit Shemesh every Thursday, I hope that I continue to learn and grow from this experience as I have from the previous visits.  It is a pleasure to become more familiar with the population and I look forward to the remainder of my time volunteering with ENP.