My Experience Volunteering

By -

My group was placed in an absorption center in Mevaseret Tzion. I had never been to an absorption center of any kind, so I didn't know what to expect. The building was smaller than I thought it would be, and when we got there, the girls had just finished a morning prayer session and were about to begin a Hebrew lesson. The first day was a little hard for me because my Hebrew is not good, so I had some trouble understanding the teacher as well a connecting with the girls. The day got better as it went on because we spent the first day just having conversations with the girls about their family, their lives, and things they like to do. We practiced asking questions and giving responses in English.
From then on, or group of 4 volunteers from ENP spent our time at the center working with the same group of 3-6 girls. Since the classrooms were already being used by other groups, we moved our lessons to a picnic table outside. We kept our activities short, so that the girls wouldn't get bored. We played a lot of games with the girls that helped improve their English vocabulary such as charades, pictionary, and other word matching activities. From working with the girls, I realized that they are so smart and that they have so much to teach us. They have only lived in Israel for a few years yet their Hebrew is very good. Not only that, but a lot of them do know basic English, and a few of them can even write and spell in English. I was very impressed with this, and I have a feeling that their English will greatly improve throughout the rest of the summer. I really enjoyed working with the girls and I wish we had more time with them.


-- Abby

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Interning at ENP: Translating Books, Teaching Surfing, and Singing Hatikva

By -
Image
     I’m Sacha Toberoff, a summer intern at Ethiopian National Project (ENP) through the Columbia/Barnard Hillel Onward program. I’m studying history and political science at Columbia University. I grew up in a secular Jewish home in Malibu, California. I’ve always had a strong connection with my cultural background and recognized the importance of Israel, as my Safta grew up here. This is my first time in Israel and I have been delighted to connect with the land of my ancestors. I chose to intern with ENP because it is doing pivotal work to support the Ethiopian Israeli community by sponsoring scholarships and hosting leadership and English language programs. I have a background in service and legal work and am excited to bring these skills to ENP. Before coming to ENP, I knew little about the struggles of the Ethiopian Jewish community making Aliyah. For many years, they dreamed of returning to Israel, and when it was finally possible it took tremendous effort and sacrifice to make t
Read more

Interview with Roni Akale

By -
Roni Akale is the first to share his story in our breathtaking project, #ENPeople documenting the lives and stories of different members of the ENP community. This project was created by our amazing intern Noa, a very talented photographer and storyteller. Noa photographs her subjects proceeding an interview about the subject's life and experiences. Over the next couple of months, Noa will be interviewing and photographing a variety of members in the ENP community including students, parents, and administrators in the organization. Noa hopes to amplify the voices of the Ethiopian Israeli community through a platform that highlights the strength and resilience of her interviewees. She hopes readers are inspired become mindful about their actions and resources so they can do more to help Ethiopians in Israeli society feel welcomed, supported, and heard. Read Roni's story below: “I was born in a Jewish village called Woinya. I was a shepherd. When I was six, my parents decided
Read more

An Interesting Session with Two SPACE Students

By -
By Gainya St Clair ENP Volunteer Today I went to the boys' school where I am volunteering for the third time. I worked with two 12 year-old kids that I have never met before—David and Shlomo. The boys are actually related- David  is the uncle of Shlomo. They told me they do not like to tell other kids this, though, because they find it strange. During the session, I had a very hard time engaging David. He was working on a math assignment from a very strict teacher who assigns a lot of homework. I got him to do a few small activities in English, but overall he was uninterested. Shlomo was also working on the math homework, but he was more interested in practicing his English. He is at a much higher level than David; although his grammar is not perfect, Shlomo can fully communicate in English. He quickly zoomed through the lesson and practice exercises I had prepared, so we just spoke in English for the remainder of the time, and I corrected his grammar when necessary.
Read more