Starting the Search for Stories
By Maya Katz-Ali
ENP Volunteer Summer 2014, via Onward Boston Israel
Student at Clark University
In ENP I am working on the job of story collecting. Breaking into how exactly I wanted to approach this line of work was challenging. What kind of questions to ask, what might be too personal, how to record the information, whether this should be a group project, how to make the student comfortable enough to share his/her own experience…etc. Also Hebrew not being a language I am fluent in proposed another big barrier.
I started to discover (and am still) slowly the answers to these questions and difficulties by seeing what the students of the center seem to respond best to.
I decided that I would start out describing the project that I was doing. Saying that I was interested to hear their stories and family history because I believe it is very important to know to build yourself as a person.
Then to explain that I want to put all this information together to bring home to explain to people that don’t know about Ethiopian Jews and their Aliyah process. I ask each one if that is okay and if they are ok with me sharing the information they give to me. I always emphasize that if there are any questions or information that they are uncomfortable with then I don’t have to write it down.
Before the interview questions I start with telling the interviewee my own story, of being part of 3 very different cultures. I come from a mixed background where my father is Muslim from India, my mother is European Jewish and I live in America. I am very familiar with both the strong cultures that I am a part of and I have close friends of many religions and backgrounds. I feel that sharing my story helps them to see me as a person and feel comfortable to share their own story with strength.
These are the questions I had come up with for the interviews:
Then after these questions and a trial or two in interviews I realized I needed a conclusive question, one open ended but also to get them thinking. I came up with the idea to ask what they want to be when they grow up. Then after they tell me what and how they plan to do that, I ask What they want to carry to their children. From there history, from culture and their family, from their Aliyah experience what do they want their children to learn.
That question, that question, was the best decision I have made in this process.
ENP Volunteer Summer 2014, via Onward Boston Israel
Student at Clark University
In ENP I am working on the job of story collecting. Breaking into how exactly I wanted to approach this line of work was challenging. What kind of questions to ask, what might be too personal, how to record the information, whether this should be a group project, how to make the student comfortable enough to share his/her own experience…etc. Also Hebrew not being a language I am fluent in proposed another big barrier.
I started to discover (and am still) slowly the answers to these questions and difficulties by seeing what the students of the center seem to respond best to.
I decided that I would start out describing the project that I was doing. Saying that I was interested to hear their stories and family history because I believe it is very important to know to build yourself as a person.
Then to explain that I want to put all this information together to bring home to explain to people that don’t know about Ethiopian Jews and their Aliyah process. I ask each one if that is okay and if they are ok with me sharing the information they give to me. I always emphasize that if there are any questions or information that they are uncomfortable with then I don’t have to write it down.
Before the interview questions I start with telling the interviewee my own story, of being part of 3 very different cultures. I come from a mixed background where my father is Muslim from India, my mother is European Jewish and I live in America. I am very familiar with both the strong cultures that I am a part of and I have close friends of many religions and backgrounds. I feel that sharing my story helps them to see me as a person and feel comfortable to share their own story with strength.
These are the questions I had come up with for the interviews:
- How many languages do you speak (at school, at home etc)?
- Where were you born?
- If born outside the country, how long ago did you and your family make Aliyah (move to Israel)?
- How did you feel about moving (nervous/excited/scared?)? memories?
- Who in your family, of your friends made Aliyah (with you - depending on answer to question #2)? Were you the oldest of siblings…?
- What stories and lessons do you feel you’ve learned or that your parents have taught you about being in a new country?
- How long ago did you start coming to the ENP center?
- How do you feel the center has helped you/what have you learned here?
Then after these questions and a trial or two in interviews I realized I needed a conclusive question, one open ended but also to get them thinking. I came up with the idea to ask what they want to be when they grow up. Then after they tell me what and how they plan to do that, I ask What they want to carry to their children. From there history, from culture and their family, from their Aliyah experience what do they want their children to learn.
That question, that question, was the best decision I have made in this process.
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