Information Source - Samantha Friedman, Senior Associate, Rabinowitz/Dorf Communications
Project T.E.N. (Tikkun Empowerment Network) is a project of The Jewish Agency for Israel. It provides young Jewish people in their 20’s and 30’s the opportunity to spend a significant length of time engaging in social activism abroad (e.g. Ethiopia), while simultaneously developing their Jewish identities and connections to one another.
T.E.N. has opened a summer camp for
street children in Gondar, Ethiopia. They reached the children through a
local NGO, Yenege Tesfa, which means, “hope for tomorrow,” and which
seeks to care for Gondar’s children by bringing them a home, a family, an
education, good health and a future.
The summer camp, named "Bright Hope Camp", is run
by a team of five Israeli T.E.N. volunteers and four other volunteer students
from the University of Gondar. 51
children who live in the Yenege Tesfa shelters are attending the camp, where they
study English every day and participate in traditional camping activities
including sports, arts and crafts, and drama activities. Once a week, the day
is dedicated to an important topic such as the environment or good hygiene. The
Salam Armachau School, a local Gondar school, hosts the camp. The camp is the largest in scope that the
children of Yenege Tesfa have ever had the chance to experience.
Hibist, Coordinator at Yenege Tesfa, said, “T.E.N. and its
volunteers are role models, they bring together everyone in order to solve the
problems, they move things that haven’t moved for a long time. The children at
Yenege Tesfa were hurt so many times by adults that they no longer trust them.
Their connection with the volunteers is crucial.”
Olemiu, Education and Health Coordinator at the Yenege Tesfa
Organization said, “I can see the amazing effort that is born of the
volunteers’ devotion and determination. Even when some of them feel sick or
tired, as they are not used to the conditions here, they get up anew and
continue with our project (the summer camp for the Yenege Tesfa orphans) and
they help the children increase their self-confidence and think differently
about themselves. They are helping the children to become more aware of their
importance of school and of how to protect themselves from abuse. It is an
honor to work with these volunteers.”
Mtzlal, T.E.N. Project Coordinator at the Gojo Neighborhood,
is an Ethiopian herself: “I’m very excited about what T.E.N. is doing in
Gondar. We are really turning around things that have stagnated for years. We
have dug a drainage canal for the neighborhood (in time for the rainy season).
The municipality thought that we’re just another organization that buys some stuff for
people and then leaves, but now they understand that we’re really here for the
long run. Also the other projects, such as the Mother Teresa Clinic. The
next step is to help people learn how to do things for themselves and earn
money.”
Sister Luciana from the Mother Teresa Clinic has been in
Ethiopia for 25 years: “The T.E.N. volunteers made an impact very quickly – the
need was so great – and they are doing a good job. They are very responsible
and have a strong will to succeed. They connect with the children and take care
of and feed those suffering from various illnesses.”
