Stories and Pathways

By: Penina Romanek ENP Volunteer When I decided to intern for ENP, I had no idea the extent of the difference it would make in my life or the new perspective it would give me. I graduated from Illinois State University in May 2013 with a degree in History Education and decided to come to Israel in August. Coming to Israel and interning for ENP has been one of the best decisions of my life. Not only are the Ethiopian-Israeli youth learning from me, but I am learning even more from them. I have gained so much from my time working with children at the youth centers and at Branco Weiss High School in Beit Shemesh. ENP gives Ethiopian-Israeli youth a loving, safe environment to attend after school hours. Without the services the youth centers provide, a majority of the children would be wandering the streets up until 10 o’clock at night. The youth centers provide the children with positive role models, scholastic assistance, and extra-curricular activities. These activities include...

By: Karin Meron ENP Volunteer   Last Sunday was my first real day at the Outreach Center in Beit Shemesh. The other volunteer and I got there a little earlier so we ended up sitting outside waiting for the kids to come. There were already a few kids playing outside and they came and started talking to us. They asked as so many questions. Luckily for me, I speak Hebrew so it was easy for me to hold a conversation with them. The kids were shocked to know that I speak Hebrew, thinking that because I'm from America, I don't speak the language, they were also shocked to know that we were there as volunteers and that we were taking time out of our day to be there with them. I loved how curious they were. They were so full of life, always laughing and smiling. The Outreach Center opened and they all rushed in, they all looked so excited to be there. Seeing them so happy to be there, made me even happier. The smiles on their faces just lightened up my day. At first, I was really...

By: Ephrem  Hawando ENP Volunteer It is certainly rewarding and exciting to volunteer with an organization that is geared towards making an impact by working at the grass roots level. I consider myself even more fortunate to have the unique opportunity of volunteering with Israeli children and youth of Ethiopian decent who are eager to learn and empower themselves in order to effectively integrate into society and claim their rights as responsible citizens of Israel.   Moreover, it is particularly special for me to volunteer with a group of individuals who once shared the same language, culture, history, and traditions as me. After I arrived to Israel to study in the MA program in International Development at the Hebrew University (see: http://glocal.huji.ac.il/ ) , the first question that I asked my program coordinator was if she had any information on organizations working among Ethiopians Jews in the Jerusalem area. She gave me some recommendations and in the end...