I arrived in the State of Israel on November 3, 1994, to produce a photographic essay about the immigration and absorption of the Ethiopian Jews. A week later I met the Mitiku family, recent immigrants from Ethiopia. For the next five months, Dagu, Nataresh, Hadasa, Shoshana, and Yosef Mitiku became my focus.
The Mitiku family began their life in Israel in Givat Hamatos, a "village" of caravans located in the southeastern corner of Jerusalem. A local bus allows the immigrants easy access to the main market, the city hospitals, and the center of town. In Givat Hamatos itself, the residents have three synagogues, a preschool, a small food store, and a day care center. Two families live separately in each caravan. A family's living space is limited to two rooms: a bedroom and a kitchen/living room.
I visited the Mitikus at their caravan three times a week to observe and photograph their daily activities. I narrated the story of their acculturation and their adaptation of Israeli customs along with the preservation of their own Ethiopian culture.
