Bedouin Chidren

http://www.dukium.org

In addition to studying the International Child Resource Institute, I also chose to study the Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality. This was due in part to the fact that when I studied abroad during my junior year at Ben Gurion University in Israel, I did an internship with them, and fell in love with the cause of the Bedouin people living in Israel. The Forum was started in 1997 when according to their website, “a group of concerned Arab and Jewish residents of the Negev (the southern desert region of Israel) established the Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality to provide a framework for Jewish-Arab collaborative efforts in the struggle for civil equality and the advancement of mutual tolerance and coexistence. The Forum, also known as “Dukium” in Hebrew, is unique in being the only Arab-Jewish organization established in the Negev that remains focused solely on the specific problems confronting the Negev.” I am interested in becoming involved again in this important cause, the website goes on to say, “In the spirit of coexistence, Bedouin residents and Jewish volunteers worked together to provide piped water, nursery schools, access roads and rubbish removal systems in over a dozen villages.” I am especially interested in finding out more about the nursery schools which were established in these Bedouin communities, I believe this makes a huge difference to the children living in these impoverished villages, many of which don’t even have running water.

 During my time working for the Forum Coexistence in 2001, I helped work on a grant which brings together Jewish children and Bedouin children to celebrate holidays from their culture and spend time together playing and doing other activities.During my travel abroad while I worked for the Forum, I also attended classes on Social Justice and Equality. I also studied under one of the most famous Bedouin anthropologists named  Prof. Aref Abu-Rabia, where I learned about the Bedouin culture. The Bedouin people were the most kind, gracious, trustworthy and special people I have ever met. It only breaks my heart to see the struggles they endure, especially the children.

              
           International Child Resource Institute

                         http://www.icrichild.org/ 

According to the mission statement of the ICRI,"We are always open to collaborations with other organizations or partners interested in supporting early childhood care and education, children’s rights, empowerment of women and girls, maternal/child health, and grassroots community development. In certain circumstances, we are also able to offer fiscal sponsorship to emerging organizations that serve children and families." For example, they have a program called the "Daraja Early Care and Education Program" which helps to bring some of Africa's poorest children developmentally-appropriate early childhood education. The site mentions,” Our Watoto Wonder Bus is a mobile teacher training program that brings expert trainers and innovative materials to schools and child care centers in low-income areas. We provide intensive, on-site, side-by-side training and mentoring to teachers and administrators. We also work to provide educators with alternative approaches to teaching that engage children and provide an activity-driven learning environment." Currently, the International Child Resource Institute has projects in Kenya, Nepal, Ghana, Zimbabwe, India, Norway, Malaysia, and Chile. Their work in Europe is focused mainly on refugee and immigrant children, and has trained over 5000 teachers on practices which help children through developmentally appropriate practices. I am contacting the executive director of this organization on behalf of the Negev Coexistence Forum in the hopes that they may begin an international project to help Bedouin children and supporting their communities.