Federation Mission
The Jewish Federation mission trip arrived in Ethiopia yesterday. I was lucky enough to be invited to have dinner with them @ the Sheraton Hotel - delcious - and got to reunite with some greensboro folks. Great evening. Also got to tag along while Rick gave a tour of the JDC clinic in Addis; it was my first visit to that clinic. It is a small, well-staffed, clean clinic that is definitely one of the nicer medical facilities I've seen here. They are in a tough spot right now because they are charged with medically evaluating and treating anyone who has an open immigration file with the Israeli Embassy; all of the Falash Mura in Addis have been denied immigration by Israel. But the clinic still treats them and their role in the future is hazy as to whether or not they'll continue to see these people or how they will transition to their new role. It was also interesting to watch the 50+ gathered Ethiopians play their political games - they were all wearing their kippahs when the ...