Bentleys in Israel: Bedouin Women -- Negev

LDS Charities (Humanitarian Services) promotes the self reliance of persons most in need. Some of the poorest in Israel live in the Negev desert near Be'er Sheva; 70% are below the poverty level. Its 190,000 Arab Bedouins are 25% of the Negev population, with a very high growth rate of 5% per year (60% under age 17). Of Bedouin women, 90% are illiterate & 90% unemployed -- barely subsisting. No official vocational training is offered to them.

Sidreh-Lakiya. Located in the recognized village of Lakiya, for over 10 years this organization has promoted the education, employment & empowerment of women. "Sidreh" is Arabic for oak or cedar -- it grows slow but strong in very hard places. Sidreh started the 1st women's newspaper in the Negev -- 11,000 copies to 50 villages each month. It has helped 1,500 women become literate and built the first Women's Center in an unrecognized village. For the 1st time, it included Bedouin men in a Negev women's association. We visited their weaving & retail center on 2/3/11, along with JC Director Eran Hayet and Sharon Eubank (our Regional Director of LDS Charities, from Salt Lake City).

Their founder & head (Khadra), Marketing Director (Hala) and Jewish Assistant Mgr. (Nicole) explained the many steps of weaving -- from shearing to spinning to dying to the end product.

Behind their retail store was a huge, authentic bedouin tent and floor loom.

There, a bedouin woman demonstrated her weaving techniques.

Back inside the retail store, we examined many beautiful woven products.

The rich & famous of the world found their way here in 2010, including V.P. Joe Biden's wife Jill & Mrs. Ruth Dyan. They had our same hosts.

We also enjoyed a marvelous meal there. Makluba is a classic Arabic dish of rice, chicken, vegetables and delicious spices.

More sobering was our visit to an unrecognized village. These lack basic services and infrastructure. Our guides took us to a school house being built.

There, a group of 10-20 women had been meeting most days to learn first Arabic, then Hebrew. Their teacher (rt.) seemed earnest and capable. (Many of them modestly veiled their faces for the camera.)

They study & learn in groups of 20, every day for two years. Then they prepare two more years to pass a high school equivalency exam. They can become teachers of other groups, with some real business options, when they become literate. Husbands, at first perhaps reluctant, can now see the value of educated wives -- as another source of income & more useful partners.

Sadly, this same school house was to be demolished the very next day. It was built without a permit in an unrecognized village. In contrast, we passed another elementary school nearby that was permitted.

Now these bedouin women will need to find a mobile facility or "caravan," and to gather financial support for educational materials and group instruction. There are many opportunities to provide needed humanitarian services in the Negev.

Before returning to the JC, we picked up Eran's daughter Noa at an Air Force Base in the Negev for her weekend leave at home. She is doing some top-secret intelligence work there. Her dad is rightly proud of her.

Back to the Negev. On 7/24/11, while I visited the Beit Safafa Women's Society bazaar, Marilyn, Margaret Ellwanger & her asst. Cami went to a s bazaar near Lakiya. It was hosted by Miriam, Gen'l Mgr. of Desert Daughter.