A social worker was walking a new resident of the Shoshana Absorption Center to her new apartment. She warned the woman, who had just arrived in Israel from Ethiopia, that the space wasn’t very large. As they got into the elevator, the young immigrant looked around and said, “Yes, it’s small but it will be fine.”
Adane Tadella, director of the Kyriat Gat center that houses primarily Ethiopian immigrants, says the difference in physical surroundings is only the beginning of the culture shock that many experience. The family structure often breaks down—children become the link to the rest of society because they learn Hebrew first and spend their days in school, women begin asserting their independence and men often feel a lack of control. Divorce rates are high, explains Tadella.
Whether adjusting to life as the head of household or contributing to the family’s income, female immigrants need to find work and establish themselves within Israeli society. For the last three years, Jewish Women’s Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago has provided grants to Matan’s Women’s Institute for Advanced Jewish Studies Allied Health Professionals Program. The program, in partnership with the Sarah Herzog Hospital in Jerusalem, offers women immigrating to Israel from Ethiopia and Northern India vocational training in direct patient care as well as cultural training to prepare them to work in nursing homes, hospitals and clinics—filling jobs lacking qualified applicants.
Atallah is one woman benefiting from this JWF-funded program. A mother of two young boys, Atallah married young and wasn’t allowed to go to school as a child. She made aliyah with her family in 2003 and attended school for the first time. Atallah divorced in 2004 and moved to Jerusalem to be near her family.
Her former husband was unemployed and could not offer child support. She cleaned the Ministry of Trade & Commerce offices, receiving a small salary supplement from the Israel National Insurance (INS) to help support her family. But she was not satisfied with that arrangement. “I did not like taking money from the INS. I am young and strong, I can work, I can learn….I want my boys to be proud of their mother,” Atallah explains.
While at work, Atallah heard about the Allied Health Professionals Program; she was interested but assumed she didn’t have the necessary language or reading skills. A few days later she happened to see Matan profiled on a weekly Ethiopian-Israeli television show. She called and requested an interview. With only 10 months of formal education under her belt, there was some hesitation about admitting her to the program. But Matan’s Director Yael Kenion was committed to providing the driven young woman with extra help.
Atallah passed the Allied Health course, passed her exams and received her license. After a successful internship, she was immediately offered a position in the Herzog Hospital Geriatric Rehabilitation unit. She says she enjoys working with the elderly because she gets to hear their histories. Additionally, she helps them regain independence as the job itself has helped her gain her own.
Her supervisors report that her patients and their families love her and Atallah says she is lucky to receive love every day at work. She is proud to support her family and the reading skills that she thought might keep her from the program are vastly improved. Discussing her abilities today, Atallah’s troubles are universal. “I can read printed material … the doctors’ handwriting is another matter,” she says.
Bat-Chen is another woman excelling in the program. After making aliyah in 1999 and completing high school, she married and had a child. But she was living in a new country, she did not know the language and her husband was also having a difficult time adjusting. Unable to find work, he started drinking and became abusive. The family had no income.
Bat-Chen applied and was accepted to Matan’s Allied Health Professional Program. Matan covered her tuition and travel expenses and offered a stipend to help with day care. As her Hebrew improved and she excelled at work, her home life fell apart. She and her husband divorced, but she went on to successfully complete the program.
Now in her second year working full-time at the Sara Herzog Hospital, Bat-Chen and her child live with her parents in Kiryat Arba and she rides a bus 45 minutes to and from Jerusalem each day. Her supervisors consider her an exemplary worker and she hopes to study for a degree in nursing.
To date, 83 women have completed the JWF-funded program. All of them have passed the government licensing examination and received certification from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Employment, and most have found full-time jobs.
The program’s success, however great, is hard to quantify. Beyond just supporting their own families, women like Atallah and Bat-Chen are role models within their communities—they are breaking the cycle of poverty for immigrants and shaping the future for the struggling Ethiopian and B’nai Menashe communities in Israel.
