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The Chief Rabbi’s Ben Azzai Programme 2017-18

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After the success of last year’s inaugural Ben Azzai Programme trip, to Mumbai, India, it was decided that the second cohort of Ben Azzai participants would visit Tamale, Ghana.

Ahead of the trip, the Chief Rabbi and Valerie were delighted to host the first of three orientation sessions, where the Chief Rabbi discussed his vision for this year’s programme with the participants.

On Sunday 17th December 2017, 16 high-achieving Jewish students from across the UK were flown to Ghana by the Office of the Chief Rabbi, together with Tzedek.

The aim of the trip was to give the participants an immersive experience in Ghana, to offer an improved understanding of the situation in order to encourage the participants to consider the Jewish response to severe poverty.

Whilst in Ghana, the participants witnessed first-hand the difficulties many Ghanaians face on a daily basis, with issues such as shelter, malnutrition and education; issues that affect them on a completely different scale to that of most developed countries.

The participants were given the chance to visit a number of different organisations and meet with several individuals who are working on these problems. This further equipped them to accept upon themselves their duty as social responsibility ambassadors upon their return; their duty to talk to their peers and their communities about what they saw.

Journalist Jennifer Frazer joined the 16 participants on the trip. You can read her thoughts here at the Jewish Chronicle, and here at the Jewish News. Whilst on the trip, some of the participants also reflected on their journey through Ghana. You can read participant Aaron Rudolph’s piece here, George Rosenfeld’s here, and Lauren Keiles, Jordana Price and Felicity Greenfield’s here.

For more about the participants’ activities whilst they were in Ghana, you can like ‘The Ben Azzai Programme’ (@BenAzzai) page on Facebook or follow @Ben_Azzai on Twitter and Instagram.

To apply for the Ben Azzai Programme 2018/19, please click here.