Creating a new model of an Environmental Community Center in the village of Qasr al-Sir that will be designed to leverage the unique assets of the Bedouin culture and strive to empower it in the environment of the modern state. The specifics of the projects will be determined with our team in the village after extensive research (interviews, group discussions, community meetings) of the needs inside the community. While its physical as well as contextual design has already begun, its construction is expected to begin in September of 2009, and would last for approximately 6 months.
The center was designed by a long-time friend of Bustan, Mrs. Michal Vita. Visit her website!
Approach
Despite the ongoing conflict between the Bedouin society and the state of Israel, Bustan believes it can help build a bridge that will integrate the Bedouin minority in Israeli society while preserving its culture and promoting a sustainable way of life that can be a model for all Israelis. In order to promise a just and constructive integration of the Bedouin society it's not enough to strengthen the trust between the state and the Bedouin community and to claim that the state will fulfill its role in promoting redistributive and environmental justice. We must create a basic movement of community empowerment in which the ability of the community to thrive in the reality of the modern state will be strengthened, and the connection between the community and its cultural heritage will be renewed. We seek to create in the village of Qasr Al-Sir a model suited for the special needs of the Bedouins in Israel.
We see a unique opportunity in the Abu Basma villages to open a new chapter in the relations between the state and the Bedouin population in the Negev. The work in Qasr Al-Sir will be a case study, from which could emerge a new, mutually beneficial relationship between the state and the Bedouin population in the Negev and even other indigenous peoples around the world.
Principles
Supporting and developing local leadership that will lead the village to just integration in the legal sphere of the state; Supporting a process of ownership of the village residents of its public sphere; Strengthening the Bedouin identity as a basis for creating an empowered community identity and narrowing the generation gap; Supplying the population tools to integrate into the modern economic structure along with renewing and strengthening the traditional ability to self fulfill needs; Promoting principals and a culture of sustainable development among the population, on the basis of the unique Bedouin tradition; Empowering women in the village and diversifying their role in society, while respecting their historical role in Bedouin society.
Main aspects of the project
Butan seeks to establish, in full cooperation with the village, a multi-faceted community center on land that serves an extended family of 800 people. The site will be built in the traditional technique of mud building while maintaining high quality standards, in a territory that will be allocated by the village board with the approval of the regional council of Abu Basma. It will be solar-powered and use other elements of green design, taken from both traditional Bedouin methods and newer permaculture techniques. The construction itself will be completed by local residents, who will be paid for their work and will also gain key skills and experience in green building techniques under professional supervision.
The site will include four areas, each of them meant to fill a certain need or needs:
1. A men's club: modeled on the "shig", the traditional male gathering place in the community. Here the traditional social structure will be strengthened and renewed, nurtured as a main platform for establishing leadership, defining the family needs, resolving conflicts and defining family claims regarding the planning and recognition process. In addition, the male population in the "shig" will be able to access information regarding the recognition process and the state systems (taxation, national security, health insurance and more).
2. Youth site: establishing a youth site that will increase the inter-generational interaction and will clearly identify the older generation as a role model for the younger generation. In the youth site materials will be available regarding Bedouin tradition, knowledge of the desert and the village history. These materials will assist the connection between the young generation and the Bedouin tradition and bridging the inter-generational gap. Various cultural activities and trainings will be available.
3. Women's site: creating a site for social services for the extended family that will allow women to enjoy the services comfortably. Child care will be offered on-site to allow the women to spend time with other women, learning new skills, resuscitating old ones, and participating in activities. Here women will be able to invest in themselves as a person and a mother and to find a community with whom they can share difficulties and dilemmas. The traditional role of Bedouin women has been undermined in the modern state. The site will strive to strengthen the role of the Bedouin women.
4. Trees greenhouse: the project will emphasis sustainable development in the private and public spheres. The greenhouse project will be a center for indigenous tree (including fruit-bearing) cultivation and ecological education. The women will run the greenhouse project, similar to the Green Belt Movement Project that we created in Kenya in the 1970's, which in addition to environmental and economic benefits became a model for women's empowerment. Our project will eventually expand to include organic cooperative gardening.
Program Evaluation
Bustan is fully aware of the importance of an adequate evaluation plan, given the project's eventual goal of being a model for a green community center rather than just a onetime project. Evaluation and monitoring plans are therefore being designed to provide Bustan with a complete oversight of the project's success and progress. These evaluation plans are divided into subgroups of environmental evaluation, as well as social and economical evaluation. That being said, during the first year of this project, we will focus on process measures, since community impacts will not yet be measurable.
Our key monitoring objectives for the next year are:
- Number of active projects
- Participation levels through all social sectors of the village
- Center's environmental footprint
- Construction costs, projected vs. actual
- Financial sustainability (income generating projects of the center vs. running costs)
Once the center's construction is complete, a more thorough program evaluation design will be made, which will be implemented in all stages of the various projects. A yearly report will be drafted monitoring and evaluation the projects individually, as well as the program as a whole.
Environmental Aspects
Bustan considers the environmental aspects of this project as equally important as its social aspects, as they are undoubtedly intertwined. Nature is in the very essence of the Bedouin life and culture, they rely on it to provide for their clothes, food, water, shelter, income and health. The environmental situation of the Negev is rapidly worsening, and the Bedouins are the first to suffer from it: naturally green areas have turned brown due to state-operated toxic waste dumping, animals migration patterns have been sabotaged due to the construction of fences and closed-off military zones, water has been re-directed to support near-by swimming-pools rather than agriculture and drinking, and state-regulations have forced the over-grazing of Bedouin lands, causing social-unrest amongst the different Bedouin tribes. The construction of the community center will support the protection and advocacy for a cleaner, more sustainable environment firstly due to its very own construction methods (Mud), but also due to its operation methods (Solar panels and wind turbines) and its green projects (organic gardens, tree plantings and women-empowering orchard project).
Through its community center tours (which are already running), Bustan will expose and educate thousands of visitors, both Israeli and foreign every year to its green center, the effects it has on the local environment and the problematic complexity of environmental and social justice in the Negev.
For any questions, ideas, suggestions or concerns, please contact info@bustan.org |
