Sefi: Opening Doors in the Workplace

| February 8, 2016

Young man standing outside staring straight ahead.

Sefi, 29, is an Ethiopian Jew who made aliyah (immigrated to Israel) with his family years ago. “I can only characterize our aliyah as painful and dangerous, “Sefi remembers. ” I was only five years old but I remember the entire trip. We often had to walk throughout the nights in order not to be detected.” Sefi remembers being shot at by bandits who tried to steal their few possessions.

The day Sefi and his family reached Israel was the happiest of his life. At first they stayed in a local absorption center and eventually moved to a trailer park populated by other Ethiopians. Sefi became a diligent student and served as a paratrooper in the Israeli army.

Sefi began to encounter problems, however, when he attempted to enter the professional job market. He found that as an Ethiopian immigrant he lacked the practical skills needed reach his full potential. When he heard about “The Sky’s the Limit” program, funded by The Fellowship‘s Guardians of Israel, Sefi quickly enrolled.

The “Sky’s the Limit” program upgrades the skills of Ethiopian university graduates and helps them find jobs in key positions within the business, public, and academic sectors. The program helps Ethiopians realize their full potential and fully enter the mainstream of Israeli life.

Sefi’s God-given skills were greatly enhanced as a result of this program. Now, working as the only Ethiopian insurance agent in all of Israel, he has a good job that he truly loves. “Having finished the program, I can now say that it strengthened the characteristics which I always felt I had. It has given me the opportunity to work in a field which has previously been closed to Ethiopians. I feel as if it’s my duty to succeed in order to open the door for other members of the community.”

There are many more Ethiopian immigrants like Sefi who long to become, full, productive citizens of Israel. You can open doors for them and help them successfully integrate into Israeli society by donating to Guardians of Israel today.