Oh My Gonder

Last week I was fortunate enough to volunteer and travel with a JDC Short-Term Service Program group consisting of college-aged Canadians and Israelis hailing from Montreal and Beer Sheva/Bnei Shimon, respectively. The participants were enthusiastic, curious, adventurous, and compassionate. I loved sharing my knowledge of the JDC and Ethiopia with them; seeing their reactions to everyday challenges, cultural differences, appreciative locals, children reaching out to hold their hands and play games with them, beautiful landscapes, and historical sites; and listening to their observations and insights.

I also learned about the participants' communities and lives at home - everything from kibbutzim, gap years, and the Israeli army to Anglophones and Francophones, the Jewish Moroccan population, and CEGEP versus university. Their backgrounds and experiences differed than mine in many ways, and this allowed me to better understand how they viewed the trip and digested the issues at hand. I think their time in Ethiopia defied many of their assumptions, strengthened appreciation for their upbringings, and impacted not only their Jewish identity but also their sense of responsibility to humanity.

Ari and I met the group in Gonder, where we did most of our volunteer work, before moving on to Lalibela and Addis Ababa. Here are some highlights from our time in and around Gonder:

Building a school at Gebra Warka

Providing deworming medication, eye examinations, 
and school supplies for students at Sera Warka

Volunteers passing out deworming medication 

Volunteer and Opthalmic Nurse conducting
eye examinations 

Volunteer teaching the students new songs

Students learning "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes"

Group of boys that I taught how to head a soccer ball

Volunteer and students drawing

Students proudly holding up donated notebooks

Practicing conversational English with our 9th grade 
students at Fasiledes General Secondary School

Baking challah for Shabbat at our house

Weighing children and handing out Plumpy'nut 
at the JDC Health Clinic

Viewing a JDC Water Development Project Site

Children running to greet us as we made our way to the spring

Natural spring that the JDC will turn into a well 

Woman filtering spring water into her
container

Woman carrying the heavy container
of water home

Visiting the Jewish cemetery in Wolleka, former JDC 
Health Center in Teda, and synagogue in Ambober

Cemetery 

Health Center 

Synagogue

Seeing a wedding ceremony while touring 
Debre Berhan Selassie Church