Ethiopian Review

By RITA POLIAKOV, CJN

From left are Jason Rubinoff and Elyse Lackie,
co-founders of Investment Program Ono (IPO);
students Kinneret Sahalo, Orly Sahalo and
Maor Sanvete; and David Schlesinger,
IPO recruitment chair.

TORONTO — After visiting the Ethiopian community in Israel, Jason Rubinoff and Elyse Lackie realized that something needed to be done to help the young generation.

“You could see these were people having a tough time. It wasn’t about the mothers and fathers, it’s about the next generation,” Rubinoff said.

“They’re in a standstill. Education is really the only way they can get out of this. That’s when we came up with an idea for a scholarship program.”

Two years ago, during a trip to Ethiopia and Israel, Rubinoff and Lackie developed Investment Program Ono (IPO).

This is a program that helps send Ethiopian Israeli students to Ono Academic College, a prestigious Israeli school in Kiryat Ono known for its business and law programs, by selling shares at $2,500 each.

IPO is an initiative of the National Ben-Gurion Society, a Young Leadership program implemented by UIA Federations Canada in co-operation with Canadian federations. The Ben-Gurion Society is made up of donors who contributed $1,000 or more to the United Jewish Appeal or Combined Jewish Appeal campaigns.

IPO has already raised enough money to send eight students to Ono. This summer, the organization has brought three of these students to intern in Toronto for one month.

According to Doron Haran, the vice-chairman for Resource Development at Ono, internships are invaluable to Israeli students.

“Israel is the land of connections,” he said at a gathering last week held at Lackie’s house, where donors met the Ethiopian students. “That’s how this system works. [Ethiopian students] don’t have connections because their parents are not playing the game. They must have an internship, but no one can find it. So we are calling. It’s working in an unbelievable way.”

Rubinoff and Lackie chose to work with Ono because of its enthusiasm for the program.

“A lot of schools aren’t interested. [Ono] loved the idea,” he said.

For Maor Sanvete, a law student at Ono who will be interning at a Toronto law firm, the college opened doors that did not exist in Ethiopia.

“I was born in a little village – we were in a separate village from modern things. I wasn’t allowed to go to school in Ethiopia. I was a shepherd, it was a simple life. We left all our important things – our house, money. We took what we could and just walked away to Jerusalem,” he said. “When I came to Israel, I started from nothing. I was just 12 years old, I started Grade 7. Everything for me was very hard.”

While addressing the group of donors last week, Sanvete refused to accept applause. Instead, he offered his thanks.

“Thanks for Ono Academic. They support us,” he said.

To Orly Sahalo, an Ethiopian Israeli who will also be interning at a law firm in Toronto, the college offers a chance to make her parents proud.

“My parents came through the Sudan in 1981. They lived in a small village… and dreamed about Jerusalem all the time,” she said. “One day, they said, ‘We’re going to walk now’ and snuck away at night. My parents walked through the desert with four little children… and lost their little girl,” she said.

“Me and my two brothers were born in Israel. My parents got a simple job. They wanted us to get an education. They didn’t want us to be like them. So I went to Ono Academic to study law, for my parents to be proud of me. This is for my parents and the next generation.”

Ono is both a prestigious college and an expensive one. For many Ethiopian Israelis, an education at a school like this is unattainable. When he was initially approached by IPO, Haran was surprised by that.

“We realized that we were not aware that this community is stuck in gridlock. The abilities are there,” he said. “Parents haven’t been able to create economic stability and support. [Ethiopian students] need a push at the beginning. It’s not affirmative action, it’s a total win-win. They’re good students.”