Adisia, meaning "revival" in Amharic, was founded in 1991 after a large number of Ethiopian Jews migrated to Israel due to conflict and famine in their home country. The nonprofit organization coordinates an income-generation program for immigrant women, providing raw materials, marketing opportunities, artistic enrichment seminars, empowerment trainings, and a setting in which women can create and sell traditional Ethiopian embroidery. Beyond a source of income, the organization also offers women the chance to preserve an important aspect of Ethiopian culture.

Ethiopian Immigrants in Israel

There are more than 80,000 Jews of Ethiopian descent living in Israel, many of whom never fully assimilated and face severe obstacles to success even today, nearly two decades after migrating. Jews in Ethiopia, known as Beta Israel, come from a long history of persecution and discrimination in Ethiopia. During the Ethiopian famine of the 1980s, Israel allowed for the coordination of a mass migration to Israel. During two large-scale airlifts, the first in 1984 and the second in 1991, Israel brought 35,000 new citizens to Israel. Israel is now in the process of bringing over the few thousand Jews remaining in Ethiopia. As immigrants from a subsistence economy, Ethiopian Jews have faced a number of challenges adjusting to the industrialized nation. Upon arrival, many lacked crucial job skills, faced racial discrimination, and struggled to attain the Hebrew literacy skills necessary to thrive. They remain one of the poorest communities in Israel.

Ethiopian Embroidery

In Ethiopia, women embroidered their dresses with vibrant decorative patterns, images from nature, and religious symbols. Now, women at Adisia use the same patterns to embroider a wide variety of unique and colorful products such as bookmarks, baby blankets, cosmetic bags, and Judaica like kippot (head coverings) and mezzuzot. The thirty embroiderers can work from home or at a community center in Afula, where Adisia provides the raw materials and tools necessary for their work.

Palestinian Territories (Gaza Strip/ West Bank)

Region: Middle East

Capital: Ramallah

Population: 1,551,859

Size: 360 sq km

Under-5 mortality rank: 95

Under-5 mortality rate, 2007: 27

Infant mortality rate (under 1), 2007: 24

Total population (thousands), 2007: 4017

Annual no. of births (thousands), 2007: 145

Annual no. of under-5 deaths (thousands), 2007: 4

GNI per capita (US$), 2007: 1230

Life expectancy at birth (years), 2007: 73

Total adult literacy rate (%), 2000–2007*: 93

Primary school net enrolment/ attendance (%), 2000–2007*: 76

% share of household income 1995–2005*, lowest 40%  -

% share of household income 1995–2005*, highest 20% -

Israel

Region: Middle East

Capital: Jerusalem

Population: 7,233,701

Size: 20,770 sq km (slightly smaller than New Jersey)

Year of Independence: 1948

Currency: New Sheqel

Languages: Hebrew

Under-5 mortality rank: 161

Under-5 mortality rate, 1990: 12

Under-5 mortality rate, 2005 6

Infant mortality rate (under 1), 1990: 10

Infant mortality rate (under 1), 2005: 5

Neonatal mortality rate, 2000: 4

Total population (thousands), 2005: 6725

Annual no. of births (thousands), 2005: 134

Annual no. of under-5 deaths (thousands), 2005: 1

GNI per capita (US$), 2005: 18620

Life expectancy at birth (years), 2005: 80

Total adult literacy rate, 2000-2004*: 97

Net primary school enrolment/attendance (%) , 2000-2005*: 98

% share of household income 1994-2004*, lowest 40%: 16

% share of household income 1994-2004*, highest 20%: 45

All statistics from CIA World Factbook 2007 & UNDP Human Development Report 2006