Olim Beyahad Marches Forward
Despite – and possibly because of – the complex situation in society as a whole, and particularly in the job market, we expanded our activities within our career development programs in recent months.
Since the outbreak of the war, our career development department launched three new program cycles. Through these programs, we work with university students who recently graduated and university graduates who are employed and wish to advance professionally, providing knowledge and tools to facilitate optimal employment integration – even during this complex time. Participants traveled to our program meetings directly from their reserve duty, and even wives of reservists who are home alone with their children made the decision to focus on their career development. We are proud of their serious efforts and happy to have them join our organization, while we know that they will be successful in developing their individual career paths.
Olim Beyahad in Times of Emergency
Olim Beyahad’s staff, graduates, and volunteers impressively enlisted in a wide variety of activities over the past six months. We provided assistance to evacuees from southern and northern Israel, distributed basic goods like food and clothing, held respite evenings for evacuees, and more.
Together with the Wuste Tsega Center for Culturally Adapted Psychotherapy, Olim Beyahad provided emotional and therapeutic assistance to residents of southern Israel who experienced the war and personal loss firsthand. Through culturally adapted therapy in Hebrew and Amharic, we were able to strengthen communities from southern Israel and provide them with vital coping tools. In the framework of our collaboration, we also produced a series of video clips in Amharic providing helpful suggestions for coping with anxiety and emotional distress.Dealing with the various public authorities has also been particularly challenging throughout the war. Immediately following the outbreak of war, we teamed up with additional organizations to assist hundreds of families in understanding and claiming their legal rights as residents of regions impacted by the war.In addition to these activities and in cooperation with the Agmon Organization, the Rakia Organization, and the Mitchashvim Organization, Olim Beyahad led an initiative to distribute hundreds of computers and tablets to Ethiopian Israeli families in southern Israel to ensure their technological accessibility and enable their children to take part in remote learning.
Remembering the Heroes Together
The war has involved tremendous loss, with casualties from various cities throughout the country, including many Ethiopian Israeli young adults. The daily reports that include pictures of these young people led us to search for a way to take part in preserving their memories.
Together with Olim Beyahad graduate and journalist Ms. Sarah Nadau, we reached out to families of fallen Ethiopian Israeli soldiers and citizens and offered them an opportunity to take part in our initiative to produce video clips in memory of their loved ones. We are currently in the midst of producing short videos that tell the stories of these young adults, their families, and their heroism. The process of producing these videos has enabled us to get to know these strong families up close, learn about the environments in which their loved ones were raised, and hear each hero’s personal story. Click here to watch our first video, which is in memory of Mologota Gadif of blessed memory.
Learning Together
The school year was interrupted in October, the war immensely affecting our students while the begining of the academic year at universities and colleges was postponed, while many students in our programs were called up to the IDF reserves. Despite all of this, we are pleased to report that our program activities continued with even greater intensity.
While the students in our programs had to quickly adapt to remote learning alongside coping with difficulties that developed as a result of the war, it was clear to us from the start that the high school and university students taking part in our programs need us now more than ever. We provided computers to our high school students who were in need, as well as individual scholastic support to help them maintain their grades and emotional support to strengthen their resilience and their families’ resilience. Our university students, who began the academic year later than planned, continue to study and excel. We remain committed to continue supporting them in order to ensure a successful end to the academic year.
Graduates Network
Olim Beyahad’s Graduates Network led activities around the clock to benefit the Ethiopian Israeli community and society as a whole.
Our graduates have been working tirelessly since the outbreak of the war. They were involved in volunteer work at centers for evacuees around the country, serving as a main resource in the organization’s emergency response plan. Alongside their vital social involvement, they also continued to aspire to advance and improve their employment statuses. In addition, we were very happy to take part in a wonderful event together with a select group of graduates in our Graduates Network who presented the products of our “Treasures from the Lens” program. Throughout the program, our graduates learned to tell their personal, family, and community stories via the camera lens, while producing powerful and touching audio-visual products related to the history of Ethiopian Jewry and their immigration to Israel, which were then presented as part of an exhibition in collaboration with PHOTO ISRAEL.
