PA 03 - LET US MAKE THE DESERT BLOOM
Project Location
The project targets the Jahalin Bedouin communities of the West Bank. The Bedouins of the Jahalin tribe arrived there from the Tel Arad district in the Negev desert. Tribal history asserts that since 1949 the Israeli authorities have initiated a campaign of forced evacuation against the Bedouins in the Tel Arad region. Physical and psychological violence increases, leading to the demolition of Bedouin homes. The Jahalin tribe fled the tribal territories on the fringes of the Negev, moving first to Jordan and then to the West Bank where they are recognized as refugees by UNRWA. Bedouin villages are located in what has been outlined Area C by the Oslo Accords.
Area C is one of the frontiers of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where numerous human rights violations continue to happen. A large part of the population risks being deported or having their homes demolished for security reasons, measures that often specifically affect the nomadic tribes.
The Jahalin communities live in precarious conditions and have to do without access to basic infrastructure and public services. Their livelihoods are minimal, since lack of pastures and water forced them to reduce their herds. Confined to restricted territories and not allowed to move on or to erect permanent buildings, the Jahalins were forced to replace their traditional tents with huts made of recycled material, similar to those typical of informal settlements in Asia and Africa; those dwellings consisting of zinc, corrugated metal, plywood and cardboard boxes are unsustainable in extreme weather conditions. The population of the Bedouin camp ranges from 100 to 1,000 people.
Project description
Climate change has exacerbated the high temperatures in the Judean desert. It is very difficult to promote educational and development initiatives in such extreme climatic conditions. We therefore ask your support to provide 1,000 trees (lemons and bougainvillea) and 500 olive trees to Bedouin families living in 14 villages in the Judean desert.
Over the coming years, desertification is expected to worsen and water precipitation is likely to decrease. Some of the Bedouin villages lie below sea level and temperatures exceed 40 degrees. On particularly hot days, zinc huts offer no protection but, on the contrary, become like saunas. Bedouin families earn their living raising sheep and camels, but climate change makes it more difficult for them to maintain them.
Although the Bedouins have lived in the desert and endured high temperatures throughout their lives, increasingly cold winters and hotter summers are due to have a strong impact on their traditional lifestyle. Climate change reduces their livelihoods and makes it very difficult to develop promotional activities. In a desert environment, activities are best carried out in the shade of a tree, and consequently this project aims to revive the vegetation of the desert with the help of its ancestral inhabitants.
Each family of those 14 Bedouin villages will plant and care for two trees, one bearing fruits and the other flowers: a lemon tree and a bougainvillea. This project promotes the involvement of Bedouin families in the safeguarding of our common home and raises their awareness of climate change, which will encourage them to embark on further environmental initiatives. Families will learn to take care of their trees and to protect them from the scorching sun, from strong winds and goats.
Over time, the trees will provide shelter and shade, improve the microclimate and enhance the natural beauty of the desert. Children will play under a tree; parents will study new languages and women will participate in income-generating initiatives. Under the shelter of a tree, families will gather, socialize and conduct a more productive and dignified life.
We ask you for support so that Bedouin families can make the desert bloom
Objectives
- To promote the involvement of Bedouin families in the protection of our common home
- To contribute to the improvement of the Bedouins’ natural environment by facilitating activities such as language courses, the promotion of further ecological initiatives, development and women’s empowerment activities
Beneficiaries
Direct: 500 families from 14 Bedouin villages
Indirect: the local community
Referent Sister for the project: Sr. María Lourdes García Grande
Project's costs