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On Sep. 28, the Overseas Committee approved a holistic program for the integration of Ethiopian Jews in Haifa, called Shiluvim. The proposal lays out a comprehensive plan to fully integrate Ethiopian Israelis into Haifain a way that has not previously been accomplished in any city throughout Israel. Over the last year the Boston-Haifa EJ Committee has worked in partnership with the municipality as well as with the Ethiopian community and numerous other organizations and NGO?s in Haifa to prepare the proposal. Together these groups managed a data collection and devised a comprehensive and systemic array of programs focused on five core priority areas for Ethiopian integration in as follows:
· Education- Facilitating Educational Achievement
· Employment- Advancing Vocational Skills to Increase Employment
· Family and Community Empowerment- Leadership Development
· Health Care- Improving Access to and Delivery of Health Care to Ethiopians
· Multicultural Sensitivity- Fostering Multicultural Sensitivity among Veteran Israeli Service Providers
These programs will be launched within the three primary neighborhoods where Ethiopians live in Haifa: East Haifa, West Haifa,
and Kiryat Haim/Shmuel.
The following is a short description of each of the core programmatic areas listed above, including several examples of programs
in each field.
Education
The major problem in education is that the Ethiopian community has lower than average achievement rates than those of the rest of the country. This low academic achievement widens the existing gap between the Ethiopian community and the rest of the population. Low academic performance creates poor self-esteem, opening a window to crime and violence, and limits future financial viability for these youth later in life.
In order to improve academic achievement among Ethiopian youth through age eighteen, Shiluvim includes a multifaceted area of programs across four major stages of childhood development as follow:
I. Early childhood and pre-elementary school education, ages 0-6 (700 children and their parents)
II. Elementary School Education, ages 6-12 (549 children)
III. Junior and High School Education, ages 12-18 (427 youth)
IV. After School Activities and Youth Empowerment(for all Youth in Haifa)
Below is a short description of some of our projects in that area.
I. Early childhood and pre-elementary school education, ages 0-6 (700 children and their parents)
a. Creating early childhood daycares.
The aim of this project is to offer a qualitative response for every family seeking to place its young children in an appropriate
daycare program, in the family's neighborhood. Such a program will enable the mother to go to work and provide the child with a
dedicated educational environment. The goal of the project for 2006 is the operation of two daycares in three regions. Three
additional daycares will be created within the coming five years. These daycares should provide services to all the children and
their parents in three regions of Haifa (East Haifa, West Haifa, and Kiryat Haim/Shmuel).
b. Parent supervision
The aim of this project is to guide and provide tools to parent for the care of their children in the first years of their lives. Three
parent groups for young children (ages 0-3), one group in each neighborhood, will be formed. In each group, 20 parents will
participate, for a total of 60 participants. These groups will be conducted as workshops of fifteen sessions and they will be
II. Elementary School Education, ages 6-12 (549 children)
a. Center for Educational Programs in East Haifa
The Center provides educational enrichment activities and homework assistance to children from first grade through
twelfth grade. Assistance is given by professionals and volunteers both individually and in small groups. Groups of children
broken out by age groups come to the Center three times a week. Usually, lunch is served as well.
b. Mediators and Parent Involvement in the Schools
The aim of this program is to improve communication between the parents of children who attend the schools and
between the teaching staff and to enable them to get involved in school activities. To this end, three educational
mediators will be hired to work in the schools in which over 25 Ethiopian children are enrolled (one full-time mediator
for each 50 Ethiopian children). The mediators will form a group for active parents and will create a program which will
include subjects such as parents' involvement in the school, teaching the parents how to help their children with their
schoolwork, parent child relationships, parental authority and more. The group will meet bi-monthly with the aim of these
sessions to teach the parents as well as to empower them. The success of this program will be measured by the integration
of members of this group into the parent teacher associations of each school.
c. Teachers' Aides for First and Second Grades
In an attempt to address children's learning and behavioral problems teacher's aides are needed for grades one and two,
in schools with a high concentration of Ethiopian pupils. In this program, twenty teachers will be hired for the purpose of
providing ssistance to the existing teaching staff. These teachers' aides will undergo unique seminars to teach them about
working with the Ethiopian community. Preference will be given to hiring Ethiopian teachers aides.
III. Junior and High School Education, ages 12-18 (427 youth)
a. Enriched Learning Program
This program will serve to lower the discrepancy between the academic achievements of the Ethiopian child and that
of the native Israeli child. The program is offered to every Ethiopian child (approximately 400 youth) and takes place on
the school grounds as after school activities. Within the framework of this program, study groups for the various subjects
and various levels will be formed in each school and personal tutoring will be offered to those who need more attention.
Additionally, each child will be assigned to a personal big brother/mentor (generally a student from the local university). The
youth will also participate in workshops to improve their social skills. In addition, the parents and children will participate together
in an eight session workshop focusing on Parent -Child relationship and parents? authority over their children.
b. The Integration of Outstanding Pupils in the Existing Leading Schools
In this program, thirty exceptional pupils with outstanding and above average scholastic abilities from grades seven through
nine will be located via testing, interviews and school recommendations. These pupils will be placed in Haifa's leading schools
in special classes as per their individual talent, for example science, arts, sports, or classes for gifted children. The children's
placement and personal development will be monitored by program staff.
IV. After School Activities and Youth Empowerment (for all Youth in Haifa)
a. Science Museum
This project includes visits to the Science Museum as well as afternoon science clubs for kids, once a week, and exposes children creatively and interactively to science and technology. It is expected that early participation in this program will enable these children to enter academic high school programs in the future. Currently, 60 children in grades five to sevenfrom all parts of Haifa, participate. b.
Summer ActivitiesThe project subsidizes organized summer activities for more than 300 Ethiopian children. Unlike previous years, this year the activities will be educational rather social and will provide courses in Math, Hebrew and English.
Employment
There is a large number of individuals with a high potential for employment who are not working. Indeed, 60% of working age
Ethiopians are unemployed as opposed to the 10% national average.
The aim of this program is to increase the number of employed Ethiopian Israelis, to encourage entrepreneurship, and to provide
job-training as per the capabilities of each individual. A unique program for each individual will advance their vocational skills
and consequently improve their potential for finding work. Additionally, encouragement of cooperation among community employers
will provide job opportunities, and ease the placement process.
a. Job Placement.
An employment coordinator will be hired to undertake the planning and carrying out a mapping of the abilities and skills of the unemployed who are employable, with the aid of regional employment agents and community activist. In addition, the coordinator will provide counseling, identifying skills and capabilities needed in order to be employment worthy, and help the individuals obtain the appropriate training so that they may find work. The coordinator will plan seminars on topics related to seeking employment, behavior in the workplace, and job training.
b. Job Creation Project:
The Boston-Haifa Partnership has developed its own vocational training initiative aimed at improving the skills of both employed and unemployed workers. This project provides job placement seminars, A Business of Your Own program and study grants. These programs are offered in the three neighborhoods in Haifa.
c. Women's Crafts East Haifa
This is a cooperative micro-enterprise involving Ethiopian women in a community center in Haifa. The Community Center has been working to create a market for their products both in and outside of Israel. This initiative generates income for women who typically have no independent access to funds.
Family and Community Empowerment
With a lack of established leadership, the community activists are unable to represent the community to the various public
service providers and to make their leadership recognized. The aims of the programs in that section are to encourage community
involvement, to encourage the community to believe that they have the ability to influence their situation and to create
community-municipal leadership to work for change.
a. Creating community leadership.
Community activists in the neighborhoods will participate in a workshop for community empowerment which will be facilitated by a professional. At this time, five to seven representatives from each of the three participating neighborhoods will be chosen to receive specific authorities and responsibilities designed to aid in attaining the program goals.
The representatives will meet with residents and they will compose detailed proposals on behalf of the neighborhoods for the years 2006-7, including an expression of needs, priorities, aims and goals for the program. These representatives will receive professional supervision and once their proposals are granted, they will be responsible for their operation within Project Shiluvim. As program leaders, their influence will be felt within the community, and this will give Ethiopian Israelis the knowledge that they are being listened to.
b. Seminars for Community Empowerment.
Eight seminar sessions per year will be held on subjects such as civil rights, responsibilities, democracy and community organization for the common good of the community. The planning of these meetings will be the responsibility of the community activists. Advertisement for the conferences will be done through the local television, radio and Amharic newspapers.
c. Community Theatre.
The theatre will be used as a tool for change within the community and the encouragement of involvement. Plays will focus on relevant subjects such as the power of the civil lobby, the importance of cooperation for achieving goals, parental authority, health, democracy and more. The plays will be performed in the Amharic language and will include professionally facilitated discussion after the performance. The plays will be performed in the community centers of each of the three participating neighborhoods.
d. Adult Education.
Nine morning and seven evening ulpans will be opened within the three neighborhoods in order to provide basic Hebrew language skills for the Ethiopian community. The program will be coordinated by an adult education coordinator at a half-time salary. Supervision and learning curriculum will be provided and budgeted by the adult education division of the Education Ministry. At the end of the year, an evaluation of the gains achieved by the students will be made.
In addition, approximately thirty Ulpan graduates who are interested in continuing their Ulpan studies will be able to do so in the city wide Ulpans already in existence.
e. Community Clubhouse for Unique Events.
The Ethiopian community needs a structure in which they may celebrate or participate in their unique ceremonies. Holidays, simchas, and traditional events are generally characterized by mass participation within the Ethiopian community and thus a need has been expressed for a structure which can house such events.
f. Open Apartments
Ethiopian students share apartments with veteran Israeli Jews, Arab Israelis and immigrants from the Soviet Union. The students, in return, volunteer in their respective communities. The Ethiopian and veteran Israeli students work only with the Ethiopian community. Each student contributes 12 hours per week.
As a result of the great success of this project, we intend to expand it from 40 to 60 participants, and from two to three neighborhoods so that half of the students participating in the project are of Ethiopian descent.
g. Family Partnerships (Yedid Mishpacha)
With an aim to deepen the integration of Ethiopian families into the general population of Haifa, this program partners Ethiopian families with successful Israeli families. The Israeli families accompany them in their first years in Israel and facilitate their absorption by forming a relationship of friendship and assistance. The project provides training to the Israeli families with respect to working with immigrants and volunteer work in general.
In light of this project's success in the past years, we intend to increase the number of participating families in the project from 30 to 100. This project entails recruitment of families, family supervision, and ongoing support and a half-time coordinator is needed.
h. Legal Aid
There is a lack of basic knowledge of the individual's legal rights on issues such as employee benefits, land rights and laws, health laws, education and welfare laws, social security (national insurance) laws and general civic rights.
The aim of this program is to provide initial legal counseling both one on one and in group settings on such topics as mentioned above. In addition, aid and coordination in dealing with state institutions, filling out forms and making claims will also be provided.
Health Care
Language barriers are the main reason that there is a severe lack of communication between the health care staff and the
Ethiopian community. In addition, Ethiopians lack basic medical information (i.e., proper use of medication, prevention of illness).
Access to healthcare services is particularly important for the Ethiopian community since chronic illnesses such as diabetes, high
blood pressure and HIV are much more prevalent in their community compared to the general population.
The aim of this project is to impart information on health topics and improve access to medical treatment for Ethiopian Israelis.
Therefore, an All-city Coordinator for Health Programs will be hired half-time and will be responsible for meeting with directors of
HMO's and seeking solutions to communication problems and also preparing seminars on health including 8 sessions per seminar on
personal hygiene, blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, sex education, dental hygiene, and nutrition for a total of 100 participants.
In addition, three health mediators will be hired for each of the relevant HMOs, one mediator for each neighborhood.
Multicultural Sensitivity
Although Israeli society consists of many different groups, there is still a huge social and cultural gap between the Ethiopian
community and other veteran Israelis. The vast cultural differences affect all aspects of daily living and create differing expectations
in each community. Professional caregivers and service providers are ignorant of the unique culture and character of the Ethiopian
community, and lack sufficient sensitivity to cultural differences, a fact that influences their effectiveness. Problems due to poor
communication and language barriers are particularly troublesome in the service-providing sector.
The main goals of these programs are to sensitize and train professional staff in schools and service providers to recognize the
unique Ethiopian culture and use of Ethiopian behavioral codes while providing services. We also plan to integrate Ethiopians as
workers in the professional strata.
Below, you can find a short description of some of our projects in that area.
a. Professional Supervision
Three seminars will be offered to professional working with Ethiopian to provide them with knowledge and skills to understand the Ethiopian culture and to recruit them to help care for the community (example, the use of community elders). These seminars will be facilitated by members of the Ethiopian community.
b. Assimilation of Ethiopian Professionals in Professional Frameworks
A request will be made to the directors of the various authorities (health, welfare, education and police) to promote and
add Ethiopians to their professional staff. A search for jobs will be conducted to locate positions in which Ethiopians should be placed
in order to facilitate services, such as health mediators, school teachers, nursery school teachers, paraprofessionals, health staff, administrative staff in HMO's, police officers, social workers, etc.
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