Stories and Pathways

  June 20th - Natanel’s Story On Thursday, June 20th, the other interns and I had the privilege of talking to Natanel, an Ethiopian-Israeli medical student who is a part of the ENP community. Natanel told us about his family’s journey from Ethiopia to Israel as well as his personal experience growing up in Israel. Not only was it eye-opening to hear directly from Natanel about his story, but to see how ENP has made a significant impact on his career and success. Natanel’s family came to Israel in 1984, walking by foot from Ethiopia, through Sudan, to Jerusalem. The journey Natanel’s parents endured took 3 to 4 weeks to complete. Growing up, Natanel would always go with his mom to the doctor’s office to translate for her. Only speaking Amharic, his mom had great difficulty navigating medical appointments, so Natanel would relay information between his mom and the doctors for years. This routine inspired Natanel to go to medical school, as he fell in love with the medical world a...

On Thursday, June 20th we had the fantastic opportunity to hear Netanel, a current medical scholar at ENP and student at Hebrew University in Jerusalem Israel, speak about his life experiences through the hardships life had to offer him. He began by unpacking his family history when his parents came to Israel after traveling by foot in the desert for 3-4 weeks.      Following his parents' story is his story. He shares with us how he grew up in Be’er Sheva where he would tag along with his mother to her workplace, a doctor's office. Netanel’s role was a translator for his mothers patients because she spoke Hamrat, the national language of Ethiopia and did not speak Hebrew. All of his experience at such a young age prompted him to follow his mothers footsteps. This was not all he shared about his childhood. He expressed that his mother was diabetic while simultaneously being pregnant with twins. This created a lot of stress on young Netanel. Following this stress, a few y...

 June 16: SPACE Program  The day that the whole ENP office has been preparing for has finally come, SPACE program day. Once we arrived at our destination in Jerusalem, we began preparing for what’s to come. The first task was to travel around the building and ask the 9th and 10th grade students what their names were to put on a name tag. This way everyone is more familiar with each other and there is no room to forget names. During this time, a delicious meal was provided. From schnitzel to pita and humus the menu was endless!  As the meal came to a close it was time to transition into the activities me and my fellow interns planned to do with the Ethiopian adolescence to allow us to build a bond with the students as well as put smiles on their faces. While playing different games such as Names and Dance Moves, Finding Commonalities, The Wind Blows, Indian Chief, Two Truths and a Lie and Simon Says the students found themselves to be having a good time. They were gettin...

          Hello! My name is Shari Spiegel and I am a rising junior at The Ohio State University majoring in Primary Education. I grew up in a small suburb called Beachwood in Cleveland Ohio. I am currently on a program called Onward where I chose to intern at the Ethiopian National Project with hopes to become more educated and build my work experience. I am so excited to be able to share my journey at ENP with everyone! June 6: First Day/ Introductions  Between figuring out public transportation, the anxiety of meeting coworkers, and figuring out the work environment, the first day of a new job/internship is very nerve racking. Luckily, I had nothing to worry about. Everyone was so kind and welcoming. I immediately noticed the pleasant atmosphere when I had a meeting with the Director of International Relations where we spoke about expectations and my focus areas. From this conversation we decided I will be initiating a project called “Pen Pals” whe...

   Hi! My name is Talia Field and I am from Chicago, Illinois. I am a rising junior at the George Washington University studying political science. This month I started my internship at the Ethiopian National Project as a part of my Onward program. I cannot wait to share my experiences while I am here for the summer and make a difference in the Jewish community, both in Israel and back home in Chicago!      Thursday, June 6th was my first day of interning with the Ethiopian National Project (ENP). Immediately, I knew I had chosen the right place to work for this summer upon being welcomed by such kind and genuine people. To start off my first day, I sat down with Grace, my supervisor, to set goals and expectations. Then, I met the rest of the office staff and the other amazing interns. As I got settled, the other interns got me acquainted with the office culture and what it is like working at ENP. The day before, a couple of the interns told me they went to a c...