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Mission From Netanya

Ethiopian-Israeli children's aid workers strengthen ties with Detroit partners.

L

ast April, hundreds of partici-
pants on Federation's Michigan
Miracle Mission 4 looked in on
some very special people — Ethiopian
Israelis who many Detroiters hold dear
to their hearts.
In the Israeli coastal town of Netanya,
the mission-goers met immigrant fami-
lies who benefit from a Detroit-funded
intervention program that helps young
Ethiopian children blend more smoothly
into Israeli society — and not develop
into an underclass.
Three weeks after the Miracle Mission
visit, a group of Israelis involved in the

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program returned the favor.
Eight professionals and volunteers
from Netanya visited Detroit May 9 - 13
to strengthen links with local Jews.
While in Detroit, they observed how the
organized Jewish community functions
-- with the intention of bringing ideas
back home. The delegates also estab-
lished bonds with leaders of Wayne State
University.
Netanya-PACT (Parents and Children
Together) was begun in 2001 as a part-
nership between the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit, the American
Joint Distribution Committee, the

Netanya municipality and the local
Ethiopian-Israeli community.
Heidi Fischgrund, former chair of
Federation's Netanya-PACT Committee,
hosted a dinner for the visitors at her
West Bloomfield home. -
"It was such a thrill for me to be a
part of the PACT program since its
beginning," she said. "Our community
is really making a difference in the lives
of the 1,500 children involved. We are
beginning to see the .fruits of our labor."
The Israeli delegates included early
childhood educators, health care profes-
sionals, staff from the PACT program,

volunteers from the Ethiopian-Israeli •
community and professionals from the
American Joint Distribution
Committee.
A meeting with WSU President Irvin -
D.. Reid was included, reflecting the
partnership between the Detroit
Federation and the university. "We con-
sider global outreach and the exchange,
of ideas to be an important part of our
educational mission," said Dr. Reid.
"We feel that we can learn much from
educators and health care professionals
from .other countries, just as they can
learn from us. We look forward to an