Celebrating Achievement and Collaboration- ENP’s Students, Staff, and Teachers Accomplish and Inspire Eachother and Volunteers

    On Sunday, November 21, I had the privilege of visiting the Amit Mekif Yud school in Ashdod and immersed first hand in the nurturing environment created by ENP’s SPACE program, spoke to the SPACE teachers about their insights and goals for the kids, and witnessed the dedicated work ethic of the 7th and 8th graders we talked to.While visiting Ashdod, the SPACE teacher explained to me the beauty of the SPACE program is that students are not made to feel like charity work, rather they receive extra help in school that other students get at home. Indeed, speaking to students at the Youth Summit I learned that while many of their parents know Hebrew, a significant portion speak only Amharic at home, inherently creating a barrier- in addition to being immigrants in a new culture and environment- not felt by other students in school. While in Ashdod, the teacher further explained that because of the structure and nature of the SPACE program, having it span all of high school, concrete growth can be measured. Seeing the enthusiasm of the middle schoolers in Ashdod working on homework together in-and-of-itself illustrated the small but significant impact of having a space to gather and work with like minded peers. Sitting with one student and helping him briefly with his algebra work, as I was in shock that I still remember how to do fractions, I was reminded of my own school days when homework was made more enjoyable in groups of friends working together. Iindeed, being surrounded by like-minded peers creates motivation and pushes a student. I know from my own life that I am much more likely to sit down and work if my friends are as well. SPACE not only empowers students of immigrant families, whether they are stellar, average, or struggling students, it also creates a community conducive to success. Therefore, I jumped at the opportunity to lead an activity for SPACE participants at the ENP-JFGP-SB National Youth Summit.

    On November 30, high school students of the program were invited to the ENP-JFGP-SB National Youth Summit to receive awards of merit on behalf of The Sudilovsky Busel Community Advocacy and Leadership Initiative. As a precursor to the ceremony, two other interns and I were asked to lead interactive activities with the awardees. Seeing as this is a program celebrating achievement in high school, I thought no better activity than to give them a glimpse at my own high school experience, just as I was getting a peek at theirs. Through a game in which I displayed pictures and the students had to guess whether they were real- life or from a show/movie, I elaborated on various aspects of US high school. Intrigued by my dancing in high school, one group of students even asked me to dance for them. The opportunity to lead this activity presented moments of mutual fondness- I for their awards and achievements in the program, they for my assistance in the ceremony and my experiences in high school. 

    Coinciding with the Youth Summit, a week before on November 23, ENP held a graduating ceremony for its Leadership and Community Empowerment Program. NP’s Leadership and Community Development Program held its end of the year ceremony. The Program prepares Ethiopian-Israeli members to become leaders, and works to increase the involvement of Ethiopian-Israelis in their own processes of absorption. Exemplifying the importance of training communities to make impact in a grassroots manner, is Yisrael Yizhak, whom I graciously had the chance to interview. Currently a head nurse in Petach Tikvah, Yisrael came to Israel at age 25 walking with no food, enduring hunger, and not knowing where he was going. With his “blood, heart, and soul in Jerusalem,'' however, he persevered and made it to the “Eretz chalav oo dvash,” or land of milk and honey, as Israel is described in the bible in Deuteronomy 31:20. Upon arrival, he was sent to Tiberias for Mechina, in which he studied with students from South Africa but after 10 months of intense dedication succeeded in testing out of Mechina and putting himself through nursing school, as he was a nurse previously in Ethiopia. Volunteering many years in the health field, he jumped at the opportunity to participate in ENP’s leadership program, which he explained “contributes to anyone, no matter what stage of life.” He explained to me that his community has diabetes, high blood pressure, and chronic illness at high rates, and so he wants to use what he learned to take action on these matters and to work with kids in schools and  with regional governments. As an Ethiopian- Israeli, a nurse, and a community leader, he holds a unique perspective to create impact, alongside the other program participants, that outsiders inevitably don’t hold- he and the other participants recognize their community’s most urgent needs and have a passion to take action. ENP’s program to instill the tools for change within the community itself, therefore, is especially important. 

The dedication of ENP’s teachers, tenacity of its students, and diligence of its staff proved admirable at ENP’s recent events and filled me with honor to amplify their efforts and interview their beneficiaries.

Written by Abigail Leibowitz