Sara Gavri is a 24-year old social work student who recently began participating in SHATIL's Ethiopian Youth-at-Risk Forum in Haifa. "I didn't really have the time," says Sara, "but when I heard that the group was leading a campaign to ease the lives of a group of Ethiopian families whose rights were being encroached upon by the city, I just had to join."  The campaign focuses on the rights of the residents in an apartment building on Bilu Street in Haifa.  The city was paving a major road directly in front of the building, which posed major safety concerns. Since joining, Sara has become one of the group's leading activists. She says she has learned that it is possible to change things; that with the right leadership and the right tools, a group of people can have an impact. Sara said she never expected to be sitting in a meeting with the mayor of Haifa, convincing him to take the needs of residents into account. "We got all the way to the mayor's office; I wrote the protocol of the meeting," she says. "It's interesting to be part of a group like this that wants to lead change for the good of the community." 

After organizing demonstrations and bringing the issue to the attention of the city authorities, the Coalition, together with the residents, decided the best way to pursue the issue was through the courts. They recruited Tebeka, an Ethiopian Israeli legal organization, which agreed to take on the case.

Motivated by their progress, the Coalition then took on the project of getting the city of Haifa to re-open the youth club that it just closed in a neighborhood heavily populated by the Ethiopian community.  They met with the head of education in the city, and alerted the media to the issue. The outcome: The youth center was re-opened.

"It's so hard to see changes for the good," says Sara. "But with this group, I see an opening to this possibility. I think it can bring good changes to the community." Sara dreams of being a kind of ambassador from the Ethiopian community to the outside world. If her beginnings as an activist at the Youth-at-Risk Forum are any indication, she may yet achieve her dream.