Melitz’s “Fighting for the Future” – School Readiness Project provides new immigrant Ethiopian children in grades one through six with the educational and social tools necessary to significantly increase school success, build self-esteem, and ease their transition into mainstream Israeli society. Participants’ parents simultaneously receive essential information and skills to support their children’s success.

 

 A Rosy Future: College Preparation and Community Leadership Training for Ethiopian Israeli Young Adults

 

Through “A Rosy Future: College Preparation and Community Leadership Training for Ethiopian Israeli Young Adults,” post-army Ethiopian Israelis participate in one year of academic training prior to entering a degree-granting program in engineering in southern Israel. Alongside the academic training, Melitz facilitates Jewish and Zionist identity seminars and community involvement. Students participate in workshops and volunteer in the community in order to build self-esteem, identity and community leadership skills. Workshops address topics such as Jewish and Zionist identity, the rights and responsibilities of Israeli citizens, personal empowerment and the importance of higher education. Participants develop leadership skills and receive tools that will enable them to climb the ladder of social mobility and better integrate into Israeli society. They will provide future technological leadership in Israel’s Negev region.

 

 

In cooperation with MASA provider, The Technological Institute of Beer Sheva, Melitz provides educational programming for Jewish academics from the Former Soviet Union participating in academic programs at the Institute. Over the course of a year, in conjunction with studies in a range of areas (through which participants receive Israeli certification to work in their fields), students participate each week in either an educational seminar or a tour. The tours bring them to sites throughout Israel and seminars cover a range of topics related to Jewish and Zionist identity. Ninety three% of program participants make aliyah, thus enriching the socioeconomic fabric of Israel’s south.