I and two other Museology students at the University of Haifa are working on an assignment on the topic of establishing a museum for Ethiopian Jews. (There are plans to set up such a museum, but the museum itself does not yet exist: the process has run into various bureaucratic and other difficulties.) The Ethiopian Jewish community in Israel has undergone profound physical, cultural and psychological traumas in the process of being transplanted from Ethiopia to Israel. These include: deaths of thousands and separation of families during the long Trek via the refugee-camps in Sudan in the 1980s; doubts as to their "Jewishness" expressed by the Israel Chief Rabbinate and others, which struck to the very heart of their self-identity, and undermined the authority of their traditional religious leaders, the "Qessotch"; the culture-shock of a traditional, predominantly rural peasant society from remote highland villages of Ethiopia encountering a modern and largely secular Israeli society; geographic dispersion and the breakdown of traditional extended-family and kinship patterns; changing roles and conflicts within the family and between younger and older generations; educational difficulties and a growing rate of school dropouts and juvenile delinquency; suicides during Army-service; feelings of rootlessness and alienation (especially among the youth), racial discrimination (including the notorious blood-donation scandal when blood donated by Ethiopians was tactlessly thrown away en masse for fear it might contain Aids) ....... All of these have profoundly affected their community pride, sense of identity and self-esteem. One idea we wish to develop in our assignment is that of "the museum as a vehicle for community empowerment". (We got this phrase from the title of Nancy J. Fuller's article on the Ak-Chin Indian Community Ecomuseum Project, chapter 12 of "Museums and Communities" ed. Karp, Kreamer and Lavine.) The article discusses the "ecomuseum concept": quote follows (my apologies for length, but it all seems important and very relevant to our assignment): [p.328] "An ecomuseum is an agent for managing change that links education, culture, and power. It is sometimes called a neighborhood museum or a street museum. The approach is both a framework for examining the nature and structure of cultural institutions and a process for democratizing them. It extends the mission of a museum to include responsibility for human dignity. The methodology, based on educational and psychological concepts of lifelong learning and life-stage development, seeks to put in place those conditions that enable communities to learn about themselves and their needs, and to act upon that knowledge. The ecomuseum concept establishes a role for the museum as a mediator in the process of cultural transition. Ecomuseums are based on the belief that museums and communities should be related to the whole of life. They are concerned with integrating the family home with other aspects of the community, such as the natural environment, economics, and social relationships. Ecomuseums are community learning centers that link the past with the present as a strategy to deal with the future needs of that particular society. Their activities and collections reflect what is important to the community, not necessarily conforming to mainstream values and interpretations. Rene Rivard, a proponent of the approach, says that an ecomuseurn is a "process [that] begins with what is known by the people--the collective memory--and sees what events and objects are linked to these ideas." The mission is to develop community autonomy and identity. Rather than serving as a storehouse or a temple, both of which isolate objects from ordinary people and require professional assistance for access and understanding, an ecomuseum recognizes the importance of culture in the development of self-identity and its role in helping a community adjust to rapid change. The ecomuseum thus becomes a tool for the economic, social, and political growth and development of the society from which it springs." I searched for ecomuseum sites on the Web, but all those I found seem to belong to geographic locations of historical or natural-environmental interest. Nevertheless, we feel the basic ideas quoted above are very applicable to the situation of the Ethiopian Jewish community. We would be very grateful for comments. Can anyone suggest other resources, or examples of the role of museums in relation to traditional immigrant communities undergoing rapid social change? I am travelling to England soon: will be in London from 24th June to 4th July, then in Glasgow 4th-18th July to attend Summer School on Digitisation; returning to Israel 21st July. Any suggestions for contacts in Britain? Thank you. Margaret Hayon Student of Museology, University of Haifa, Israel and researcher of Ethiopian Jewish heritage.