Gesho

Thirteen-year-old Gesho is one of the 14,000 Ethiopian Jews who left Northeast Africa for a new life in Israel during a massive refugee effort initiated by the Israeli government in 1991. In Ethiopia, he and his family lived without running water or electricity, and Gesho had to drop out of school in grade 6 to help his father. Now his family lives in a trailer equipped with basic conveniences in a temporary community for new immigrants on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Gesho's older brother Benjamin arrived seven years earlier and tells of the hardships he endured. Now, integrated into Israeli culture, he helps Gesho adapt and encourages his hopes of becoming a professional soccer player. (Also available in a Hebrew version.)