Better Health, A Luxury?
April 10, 2009 Filed in: Compassion | Health
Welcome to our web site. I am going to be sharing with you some memories of our trip to Ethiopia. Each week I will reflect on what I saw among the Jewish people of Addis Ababa.
Health care in Ethiopia is scarce for all the Ethiopians, but for those who are among the Ethiopian Jews, there is no government provision.
However, since they have recently begun to be recognized as truly Jewish and allowed to make Aliyah, Jewish organizations from around the world have been a part of providing a clinic for them both in Addis and in Gonder. The clinic that I saw and stayed at was in a house in what had once been a much better neighborhood (close to the Israeli Embassy). It was a two bedroom sturdy brick house (unlike the ones pictured in other blogs on this site). There were three rooms in a row outside of the house that had once been servants’ quarters. At the end of this row of rooms was a combination “toilet” (like that pictured on a different blog) and shower area. A number of the 70 orphaned children of the Beta Israel community came and showered here on Fridays to get cleaned up for Shabbat. We stayed in one of the outside rooms while there; the other two rooms were used as the lab and as a counseling/education center. Inside the house the two bedrooms were the treatment rooms and the living room was the reception area.
All treatment was provided by two nurses. In Ethiopia, clinics are classified as lower, middle and upper clinics, depending on the types of services they provide. This clinic had quickly moved from a lower clinic to a middle clinic because of the quality and variety of services it offered. To be an upper clinic it would need to have a doctor there, which was being worked on while I was there, but was not yet actualized. There is no dental clinic for them, although the University of Addis dental clinic has treated some of their emergencies on occasion.
In the Beta Israel community in Addis there are two children who are physically and emotionally handicapped, one is pictured here. There is no treatment for them in Ethiopia. The parents of this child asked me to please try to get help for their son. They had seen a taste of what could be done for him when an organization had come for two weeks with a medical team and he apparently received physical therapy treatment in his home. These parents long for help for their child, but there is none to be had in their country. They expressed the desire to send him where he could get help.
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Channukah Greetings!
December 22, 2008 Filed in: Holiday
This weekend I attended my second conference as an exhibitor. I set up a booth with the Ethiopians handiwork and was surprised with a banner donated by a friend to serve as a backdrop for my table of Ethiopian handicrafts.It is the beginning of Channukah, a historical celebration of the victory of the Maccabees and called both the festival of lights and the festival of dedication. May we all rededicate ourselves to the love of our fellow man and the mitzvot of Hashem.
Weaving Their Own History
December 09, 2008 Filed in: Handicraft
Weaving is a trade that has been passed down for many generations. The weavers pictured here are full time weavers, but a number of people also weave at night in their homes after working all day (most jobs don’t pay enough to live on).
In several cases we saw homes that just held the loom and the weaver’s bed,
as pictured here:
They also weave many other items such as dresses, table cloths, bed spreads, curtains etc. We will soon be offering table clothes, bed spreads and scarves on this site.
The Process of Weaving
It is then spun by hand into thread, washed and hung out to dry, and then spun onto spools used to weave with the loom.
Read More...
Social Status
November 22, 2008 Filed in: Social Status
For the two millennium they lived in the Gonder area of Ethiopia, their livelihood was primarily based on farming, blacksmithing, pottery and weaving.
Although these skills provided much needed products to their non–jewish neighbors, these trades were looked down upon. There were also many crazy stories such as the Jews having evil eyes that caused bad things to happen to people. Jews in Ethiopia were labeled with several derogatory terms – inculcating the population with a culture of discrimination.
Governing bodies have also participated in the oppression of the Jews there. At various periods of time, and under different governments, they were not allowed to own land, hold certain jobs or obtain an education.
The new government has changed these discriminatory laws, but it cannot force the change of heart of a people long biased against the Jews. My very first day in Ethiopia a man was talking very excitedly to the leader of the synagogue about his child being called the derogatory term for Jews in school by another child. He wanted the leader to write a letter to the school demanding that they do not allow this term to be used by the children. Although the Jewish children are now allowed an education, they still have to struggle against the prejudice of their culture, as do their parents in the streets.
Jobs are hard to obtain for all Ethiopians, but even harder for the Jews because of this prejudice. It is also hard for the Beta Israel who have just migrated in the past years to the city (in hopes of making Aliyah) to practice their skills in their one room huts, or to obtain jobs for which they have no training.
This is one of the reasons that we have this web site, to help these people with a livelihood of their skill, while they await their Aliyah to Israel. The Beta Abraham, who have been in the city several hundred years (see About the Estranged), have had more training and education opportunities than those who just recently moved to the city. However, they still live in poverty conditions and struggle against the prejudice.
In fact, many keep their Jewish identity a secret in order to not inhibit their opportunities. An American friend of mine who works in Ethiopia says that when they do identify themselves to her ( a known Jew) , they whisper that they are a part of the community (meaning the Jewish community). There are some who have become more bold about their Jewish faith– this web site was originally the idea of one of these men who desired to help his people to have better living and working conditions.
A Unique Opportunity
October 20, 2008 Filed in: Compassion
this entry is written by the webmaster (Gordon)
since Teresa has been very busy with other matters during the High Holy Days...
A central tenet amongst those of the Jewish faith is compassion. The Torah and the Prophets often mention the duty of the righteous to provide and protect the widow, the poor, the orphan, and the stranger. As life unfolds in front of us, we often find that there are more needy people around us than there are resources for relief.
And yet, it is evident that there are those whose standard of living is so far below ours, even pennies would help. During this feast season, the sukkah that we dwell in is a reminder of our dependency on G-d and the fragility of our dwelling against the immensity of creation.
I am blessed to be a part of this small effort to give you the opportunity to support the Ethiopian Jews. It is significant that we are not really giving them a handout, but “affirming their dignity” by purchasing handcrafted goods from them. We can give them a sense of honor and self worth as they provide for their families. Teresa, myself and others associated with Estranged People are all serving in our various capacities as an offering to Adonai- none of us is drawing a salary or taking payment for our services. 100% of the price of the items you purchase is sent to the Jews of Ethiopia, there are no middle men or skimming of the monies.
I hope you see this website, as I do- a unique opportunity to provide some relief to those who have been persecuted for their beliefs and find themselves waiting for over a decade for Aliyah. My wife and I thoroughly enjoy the colorful, whimsical tapestry work of the pillows and tallit bag that we purchased.
Baruch Hashem!
since Teresa has been very busy with other matters during the High Holy Days...
A central tenet amongst those of the Jewish faith is compassion. The Torah and the Prophets often mention the duty of the righteous to provide and protect the widow, the poor, the orphan, and the stranger. As life unfolds in front of us, we often find that there are more needy people around us than there are resources for relief.
And yet, it is evident that there are those whose standard of living is so far below ours, even pennies would help. During this feast season, the sukkah that we dwell in is a reminder of our dependency on G-d and the fragility of our dwelling against the immensity of creation.
I am blessed to be a part of this small effort to give you the opportunity to support the Ethiopian Jews. It is significant that we are not really giving them a handout, but “affirming their dignity” by purchasing handcrafted goods from them. We can give them a sense of honor and self worth as they provide for their families. Teresa, myself and others associated with Estranged People are all serving in our various capacities as an offering to Adonai- none of us is drawing a salary or taking payment for our services. 100% of the price of the items you purchase is sent to the Jews of Ethiopia, there are no middle men or skimming of the monies.
I hope you see this website, as I do- a unique opportunity to provide some relief to those who have been persecuted for their beliefs and find themselves waiting for over a decade for Aliyah. My wife and I thoroughly enjoy the colorful, whimsical tapestry work of the pillows and tallit bag that we purchased.
Baruch Hashem!
Ethiopian Water Resources
September 24, 2008 Filed in: Food
It is no different for the Jewish communities. A study done just a year ago on the Bete Israel community in Addis showed that the top ten diseases were water-related.
Most water is purchased from someone. Ethiopians also collect rain water during the rainy season. Very few Ethiopians have access to get water from municipal sources or wells. None of the Ethiopian Jews that we saw had running water in their home.
This water is used in food preparation and for cleaning. The water is stored in buckets, and retrieved by a bowl or pitcher to wash hands or use in cooking or cleaning.
The majority of households use public pit latrines that are located in the vicinity of the rented houses, many use open field excreta and a very small percent use public toilets (a hole in the ground with a tank to flush away waste). I did not ask to take pictures of their latrines or waste fields, but did take this picture of a public toilet the second and last time I ever used one. Fortunately the clinic that we stayed in had a western style toilet.
The Diet of the Ethiopian Jews
September 08, 2008 Filed in: Food
“Whet” is a sauce made out of ground white beans and seasonings, including a red pepper powder. When eaten with the ingera bread, the two together are called
igera bread with pepper powder to dip into (because this lady was so poor that she did not have “whet” to offer us, she just sprinkled some pepper powder that goes into the whet sauce on the ingera, her landlord gave her the ingera to serve us.) But she was did have coffee to share with us, as pictured below.
.The lid to the table that these coffee cups are on comes off and inside the table provides storage space inside for the cups. By the way, Ethiopian coffee is very, very strong, that is why the coffee cups are small in Ethiopia. Also, part of “coffee ceremony” (for those better off) includes spreading a nice cloth under the preparation area, this lady brought in some grass to beautify the dirt floor for the ceremony.
Their Kitchens
August 29, 2008 Filed in: Food
This is a typical “kitchen area”. In the middle are the two “stoves” that everyone has, a gas burner and a coal burner, on top of the coal burner is the “whet” pan, staying warm for the next meal. A little to the left is the tea pot, used for morning and afternoon tea snack. Behind the burners is a typical cabinet and to the left of that is an ingera basket with ingera dough fermenting in it. To the right of the cabinet is an ingera basket with ready to eat ingera in it. The Pringles can was where they stored the coffee in this home.
The diet of the Bete Israel is very simple. It consists of mainly “ingera”, “whet” and tea. My topic next week will describe these in a little more detail.
The Hope of the Ethiopian Jews
August 20, 2008 Filed in: Aliyah
Appalling Living Conditions
August 10, 2008 Filed in: History
Today I will talk about the living conditions of the Bete Israel, specifically their dwellings. There are two distinct Jewish communities in Addis Ababa, I lived among the Bete Israel community (for more information about the two communities see the About the Estranged link above). This community is disbursed among a very poor section of Addis that is close to the Israeli Embassy. The people moved close to the Embassy because their sole reason for moving to Addis was the belief that they would soon be moving to Israel. Some have been waiting in dire living conditions for up to 12 years to go to Israel.
The families with more people than can sleep on these beds pull out plastic burlap and blankets stored under a bed during the day and sleep on the dirt floors (the picture to the right, the lady is showing us the blankets and plastic that they pull out to sleep on at
night).
The remaining space (also used for sleeping for larger families) is the living and “kitchen” space. Future entries will discuss diet and food preparation. These dwellings often leak, which is why items are kept in plastic bags. These are typical samples of the dwellings of the Bete Israel in Addis Ababa. There are no
bathrooms, appliances, nor running water in these “homes”. I will discuss how they manage without these things in future reflections.
The Bete Israel are living in incredible poverty. They did not mind this at first as a temporary condition as they believed they would soon emigrate to their beloved Israel. But they are not happy with having to live so long in such conditions. I was taken to some of their homes and visited with some of the people. One lady said to me when we first arrived “Please, please help us go to Israel, we have to live in such dirty conditions!”
Their dwelling places can hardly be called homes, most live in one room structures that are shared by 4 to 12 people. Each dwelling has two beds, set perpendicular to each other against the walls.
The remaining space (also used for sleeping for larger families) is the living and “kitchen” space. Future entries will discuss diet and food preparation. These dwellings often leak, which is why items are kept in plastic bags. These are typical samples of the dwellings of the Bete Israel in Addis Ababa. There are no