Sarah Aynor (z"l):  Education For All!
An Interview with Tsega Melaku, Keren Aynor's Chairperson
 

I could not think of any better way to honour Sarah Aynor's passing than to interview Tsega Melaku, Keren Aynor's Chairperson, a dear friend of Sarah's and one of the Fund's first scholarship recipients over 22 years ago.

When we met, Tsega choked backed tears and told me she works hard not to tear up each time  she thinks of Sarah.  It was just this past November, the week when we read of our Jewish matriarch Sarah in the Shabbat Torah reading that we parted with Keren Hanan Aynor's Sarah, a visionary woman.  For Tsega, Sarah's family, the staff, board members and thousands of scholarship recipients, her death seems too fresh.
Parallels abound as friends and family accompanied Sarah Aynor to her resting place and we thought of the traditional matriarch Sarah whose life is chronicled in the Torah.  How seemingly appropriate that our Sarah left this world that day.

Tsega sips her coffee and shares with me many wonderful and heartfelt stories of Sarah, the woman, the mother, the wife, the founder, the visionary: A woman who lived by her principles both personally and professionally to her last day.

One could not help but to swept away by the moving and familial relationship Tsega shared with Sarah, a friendship so deep and meaningful, their lives remained intertwined for over two decades - the daily calls, weekly visits, family events, shared secrets and much more, as though they had chosen one another to be true friends - two women forever connected.

Each day Sarah would call Tsega telling her of a recent news event or something of interest in the Ethiopian Israeli community.  The women would discuss the issues, laugh and think of ways to incorporate the item into an action plan for change.  For Sarah, education was a tool for change, a means of success, encouraging leadership.  For Sarah, academic parents were positive role models for children and the future incorporating of Ethiopian Israeli children as full citizens in Israeli society.
As Tsega so poignantly described, Sarah's generosity was not about the money; rather a means to motivate and encourage talented young people to become successful in future endeavours.  Tsega said it best:" Sarah was born to give and Keren Hanan Aynor was a tool to help support the future leaders of Israel."  

Everywhere Sarah and Tsega went together - whether a film, concert, children's enrichment activity etc, Sarah would make certain Ethiopian Israelis had a place.  She wouldn't take no for an answer.   In her opinion, Ethiopian Israelis should be active and involved at level level of society. Sarah would find creative and new ways to make certain opportunities were created for Ethiopians to become bus drivers, soccer champions, doctors, researchers and famous poets. Sarah called them, "portzei derech" a Hebrew expression for the trail blazers - those individuals who would make a difference in their field- whether they are the first Ethiopian Israelis to do so or not.  In her creative and determined way, Sarah made certain everyone found their place! Sarah was inventive and passionate and a great listener.  She offered support, not only to her students, but to their families as well.  As Tsega so eloquently shared with me: ":Sarah's life work was the Fund - in her caring and optimistic way, she gave each student a home away from home and the support to reach for their dreams".

There is something incredibly inspiring about hearing Tsega's memories, woven together like a tapestry of love and compassion, rich with colours bright like the students' futures.  Sarah was proud of Tsega, one of the first scholarship recipients, she herself become a role model in her own family and her community, not to mention her role in Israeli society as a whole.  Tsega's son is studying to be a doctor, the same one who played on Sarah's living room floor 22 years ago when Tsega was studying herself.  L'dor l dor.  From generation to generation.  Tsega is the personification of everything Sarah worked for.

Sarah Aynor's legacy will live on in each of the students she supported.  She truly was a special woman, a woman of conviction and love.  And as Tsega said to me time and again while we spoke in the most loving way  "That was our Sarah..."

May Sarah's memory be a blessing and may the work of the Fund continue in her spirit for many years to come...




 

 

Keren Hanan Aynor's Alumni Survey
Results and Applications

In relation to drop out rates and completed degrees,  86% of Keren Aynor's scholarship recipients completed their studies, compared to 14% who did not.
In Israel at large, there is an approximate 20% drop out rate, which means that our scholarships students have a much lower drop out rate.

54% of students indicated that the scholarship helped them a great deal in terms of completing their degree (4 and 5 on the scale of answers) 53% said it helped them  to succeed in their studies.

51% claimed they would have studied in any case, with or without the assistance and would complete their studies in the same amount of time.
35 % claim that without the scholarship, the degree would have taken much longer or they wouldn't have completed it.
12% said that they would have not studied or would have put off studying for several years.

In addition to the financial assistance, 44% claimed that the scholarship helped them in another way, for example, in terms of  motivation, encouragement and a sense of support.

88% claim that there was an improvement in salary and/ or position  at work in the past five years and  84% predict that there would be a similar improvement in coming years.

Approximately half the participants claim that without the degree they would not have received a position in their current workplace.

67% claim that there is a good correlation between the professional course they studied and their present employment.