Transcript
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and suddenly we immigrate to Israel. We
shed all of that, remember all those
traditions, [music] but we just want to
be Israelis.
I'm Vatia, [music] married to Hedmuli
from Nahhen Hood, and they have three
children. I immigrated [music] from
Ethiopia. I lived on the banks of the
Nile until I was 11 from that same
community that waited 2500 years to come
to Israel. And truly, thank God, when my
father was 80 years old, emissaries from
Israel arrived, knocked on our [music]
door in the middle of the night, and
informed us that we were going to
Israel. It was a dream come true.
[music] We couldn't sleep day or night
from excitement, and we finally arrived
in the country. Shortly after, they told
us that children aged 11 and up would be
sent to boarding schools.
And usually Ethiopian immigrants go to
religious boarding [music] schools
because we come from religious families
and a traditional community, but we were
sent to a place that wasn't religious.
The staff was amazing and the counselors
really supported us like parents. After
a year, they told us, "That's it. Now
you're going to join a regular class."
And when we entered a regular class, it
really felt like losing our identity.
[music] Everything up until then just
didn't matter anymore, our traditions.
And then we get to the end of ninth
grade and they tell us,
"You've only been in the country for a
[music] few years. There's no way you'll
be able to get a high school diploma.
So, we're going to track all of you into
vocational studies." First of all, I was
shocked. I mean, that someone could
dictate to me what kind of future I
would have, what I can and can't do. So,
I made a decision together with some
other young people that were leaving the
boarding school. My parents, of [music]
course, were busy dealing with all the
difficulties of adjusting. They had no
idea what we were going through. And so
I kept going, [music] deciding that from
now on I would only be Israeli with no
religious symbols at all. Spiritual
matters just didn't interest me. And
that's how I [music] finished high
school. And after that came military
