When Masha Yezopkina's great-grandfather changed his name to escape persecution during the Nazi terror of WWII, he never could have imagined that one day his great-granddaughter would be able to receive a Jewish education. But that's exactly what 12-year old Masha is doing in Odessa, Ukraine. As a student at the ORT school, opened in 1997 through the support of Women's American ORT, Masha symbolized the rejuvenation of Jewish life that was repressed there for so long. And for ORT, banished from the Soviet Union by the Communists, this is a homecoming - combining Jewish education with the best in academic and high-tech classes.With more than 280,000 students in 60 countries, ORT is the largest non-governmental network of vocational education and technical training centers in the world. And the Jewish community is not the only beneficiary. In this Visionaries documentary you will meet Mejrima Cosic, a 35-year old Bosnian refugee living in Chicago, and the Women's American ORT volunteers who are giving her the tools to build a future for her family. ORT is taking the Jewish experience of persecution and survival and helping others around the world build new lives by training them for careers that will give them a lifetime of meaningful work.
