Asneka Mekere planting sapling trees with kids from Hefzibah neighborhood

An ESRA success story

Seventeen years ago, in 1995, the Mekere family, new immigrants from Ethiopia, came to live in the Hefzibah neighborhood of Netanya.  They were part of the largest aliyah of Ethiopian Jewry, arriving in Israel between 1991 and 1995.

It began in 1991 when Operation Solomon, as it came to be known, brought 14,325 Jews to Israel in the space of 36 hours. Among them was the Mekere family, consisting of parents with 13 children, the youngest of whom were two daughters, Asneka and Negiste, then seven and five years old respectively.    

In their teens, Asneka and Negiste became regular participants in ESRA’s Netanya Right Track Centers run in partnership with the Youth at Risk Department of the municipality.  At the time, the project was held in an underground shelter in the Vatikim neighborhood.  Most of the youth were from Hefzibah. ESRA-sponsored teachers helped the children with their homework and prepared them for their bagrut (matriculation) examinations, while ESRA volunteers were always on hand to give warm support and a listening ear. 

The sisters Asneka and Negiste became part of a group of 12 teenagers chosen to participate in a project designed by Eric Cohen of Eric Cohen Books, a company specializing in educational books for teaching English as a foreign language.  Under the guidance of then executive director of ESRA, Liz Trakeniski, these youngsters were bused to the publisher’s premises once a week for three months.  There, with the help of Eric Cohen’s staff, they prepared an English magazine called “Stuff”.   They interviewed famous sportsmen, singers, fashion models and others, producing articles for the magazine. Eric Cohen was present at every session. His artists did the graphics and the magazine was published. This experience left an indelible impression on the two sisters who say, “We have never forgotten Eric Cohen Books or the wonder of being taken out of our environment to be part of the exciting publishing house experience!”

When Asneka completed her high school studies, she entered the army where she became an officer in charge of the Reserve Duty Unit in the IDF’s Spokesman’s Office. On completing her term in the army, she started studying for her BA degree in banking and financial markets.  Asneka loves the subjects she is studying.

Her younger sister Negiste chose to do National Service as a secretary in the Histadrut Medical Aid Center in the Neot Ganim neighborhood of Netanya.  Negiste chose to stay close to home because she knew that many members of her community who used this clinic could not speak Hebrew and were only able to express themselves in their own language of Amharic.  Negiste said, “I wanted to be able to help with translating as it is very important for a patient to be understood correctly in order to receive the appropriate treatment.”  

Negiste very much enjoyed her National Service, which she found provided a very positive service to her own community.  Today Negiste is studying business management at the Ruppin Academic Center.

These two young women (whose father sadly died four years ago), graduates of ESRA’s Right Track Project, are now giving back to society as a whole and their community in particular.  How?  They applied to be part of ESRA’s Students Build a Neighborhood program. Both these special young women were accepted.  They receive, through ESRA, an apartment in an area of deprivation, in return for which they mentor youngsters who live there.  These children, in need of extra help with their studies, know that they can come to our students’ apartment to be given assistance and guidance with their schoolwork, which also does much to elevate their self-confidence.  

What do Asneka and Negiste feel about ESRA’s Students Build a Neighborhood project?

“It’s a project whose model should be copied everywhere because the children who need the help the most are receiving help!

“It’s a two-way success story – a great opportunity for students who do not have the means to rent their own apartment and who, simultaneously, want to do something meaningful while they are studying.”

The circle is complete. ESRA’s contribution, some ten years ago, to two teenagers has been paid back many times over.  How proud we can be that our Right Track graduates have become successful students wanting and able to give back to the community from which they came.  A success story par excellence!  

Negiste Mekere (on the right)