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One of the most amazing immigration stories in the last period is that of 10 year old Jambar Darba who lives in Kiryat Yam.
After waiting for five years for permission to immigrate from Ethiopia to Israel, Darba arrived in Israel five years ago along with his parents and family. Several months later he was found to be a “wonder boy”, and today he is busy studying medicine.
Jambar lives with his parents and four siblings in a small apartment in the Kiryat Yam absorption center. However the family’s cramped conditions have not prevented him from studying and getting ahead.
Shortly after he arrived in Israel he could already read, write and speak Hebrew fluently. He was also recognized as a gifted child and accepted to study medicine at the Academy for Gifted Children under the auspices of the Technion Medical School and the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa.
This special program is funded by the Jewish Agency and includes 250 gifted 2nd to 8th graders who grades average 85 and over.
According to the project’s academic advisor, Prof. Avi Berman from the Technion, Jambar was immediately accepted to the academy’s veterinary medicine program, but preferred to focus on human medicine. “Jambar is considered a brilliant student and is happy for this opportunity to study and develop,” he added.
Jambar told “Israel Today”: “I’ve always dreamed of being a doctor, since I was a little boy. But when I started studying medicine I realized that I want to be a gynecologist. I’m thrilled to be one of the lucky ones to be accepted to the project.”
According to Kiryat Yam’s municipality spokeswoman, who supports Jambar and oversees his progress, “In Ethiopia the boy’s father was a farmer and his mother a housewife. Jambar , who supplemented the family income by working as a shepherd, was determined to attend school and from the age of three he sat outside the classroom at the local school in his village. When he was four years old the headmaster discovered and was amazed by his intellectual abilities and accepted him into the school as an exception to the rule.”
Jambar never forgets to show his appreciation. “Without the city’s help and that of the staff of the absorption center I don’t know how we’d survive. I will never forget what my parents did for me and I hope that when I grow up I’ll be able to repay and help them.”
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