ESRA initiated this Ethiopian dance group several years ago. It was based on the rationale that “there is no present without a past” and it would be good for young Ethiopian girls to learn their wonderful heritage. As one of the leaders of the Hefzibah community said to me at the time, the community gets help from many places, but only ESRA asks us what we really want and its help comes from the desires of the community. This year’s Ethiopian dance group is proud to have a mixture of Ethiopian girls and their friends from other ethnic groups who also want to learn Ethiopian dance. The girls told ESRA what they want, and we now have a wonderfully mixed group of girls who love learning Ethiopian dance. On June 18, we had our end of the year party. When I got to the corner of the Community Center in Neot Ganim, several of the girls came running to me excitedly. The first to speak was Kesem, who handed me a beautifully decorated piece of paper with some writing on it which she wanted to read at the ceremony. When you read it (see below), you will understand why my heart jumped with joy. Other girls also wrote moving thank-you notes. ESRA has contributed here to a heartwarming awareness in these girls of what they receive. It is not taken for granted. It was wonderful for me to have the support of other ESRA volunteers at the party, as well as members of the executive. The evening was a joy for the parents who came, the ESRA volunteers, for Brinesh the dance teacher and for me as the coordinator of this project. May ESRA continue to go from strength to strength.

 

Thank you, ESRA, for giving us so much more . . .

MANY of the adults who do good deeds for us “little ones” don’t realize that they are turning us into being “big ones” sooner than they can believe. Thank you, Brinesh, for giving us a deeper knowledge of our heritage. We have learned many new things that have intensified our will to do good deeds. Thank you for giving us so much more than just dance lessons. We danced, we sang, we played ... all our hours with you have been such fun. Thanks to Joan from ESRA who comes to encourage and support us. We thank ESRA through you for the privilege of letting us be part of this wonderful activity ESRA created. Today we want to thank ESRA, Brinesh and also Avi Faraj, the manager of the Community Center, who hosts our group in his center. I hope that this group will continue next year too. The biggest thank you goes to the ESRA organization who made this possible. Thanks again and again,  

Kesem

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Joan Weisman

Joan (Stein) Weisman came to Israel in August 1972 and two weeks later started teaching. She lived in Jerusalem but traveled to Kiryat Malachi to work in two elementary schools. After four years of...
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