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.
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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
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| Volunteers passing out deworming medication |
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Volunteer and Opthalmic Nurse conducting
eye examinations |
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| Volunteer teaching the students new songs |
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| Students learning "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" |
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| Group of boys that I taught how to head a soccer ball |
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| Volunteer and students drawing |
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| 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
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| Children running to greet us as we made our way to the spring |
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| Natural spring that the JDC will turn into a well |
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Woman filtering spring water into her
container |
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Woman carrying the heavy container
of water home |
Visiting the Jewish cemetery in Wolleka, former JDC
Health Center in Teda, and synagogue in Ambober
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| Cemetery |
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| Health Center |
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| Synagogue |
Seeing a wedding ceremony while touring
Debre Berhan Selassie Church
