Messeret fulfilled her dream of coming to Israel about ten years ago, bringing her two children, Gabi and Tegest. Her dream of peacefully settling in Israel was interrupted, however, due to abuse from the father of her children. She lived in a battered women’s shelter for two years shortly after coming to Israel and had no family in Israel to support her. Despite these hardships, Messeret raised her children with love and a passion for Israel. The women’s shelter allowed her to start a new life by assisting her in finding an apartment and a job. She compares the way the shelter helped her to the way the SPACE program helps her son. She is grateful her children “don’t look or act like they went through what they went through”-she worked hard to ensure their lives stay as normal as possible despite adversity.

As for Gabi and Tegest, Messeret always works to provide them with the best opportunities and credits SPACE for Gabi’s success in the classroom-Tegest will soon join her brother in the program. Gabi is a bright 14-year-old who has been participating in SPACE for the past two years. The SPACE program helps Gabi with academic material he doesn’t understand which has given him confidence in the classroom. He especially loves going on field trips through SPACE--his favorite trip was to the children’s museum in Holon. He hopes to have a career working with computers in the future.

Due to language barriers, Messeret struggles to help Gabi and Tegest with their homework but is grateful that SPACE assists her children in their education and all facets of life. Seeing her children happy and learning new things motivates her to keep moving forward. She credits SPACE with connecting her to her children’s education. When Gabi comes home, “he tells her what happened in SPACE and she is able to have a conversation with him; she has something to talk to him about.” Messeret even learns from Gabi because he shares with her the information he learned. She is so overjoyed by the strides her Gabi is making and hopes all her children will continue to work hard and achieve their dreams through SPACE.