Green Rahat
Rahat is the largest of seven Bedouin settlements in the Negev. It was established in 1972 by the government of Israel in an attempt to change the nomadic nature of the Arab population in the south at that time, and to provide for an alternative for more permanent settlement.
Today Rahat has innumerable, pernicious environmental problems. These include an inefficient sanitation system, leakage of environmentally hazardous substances, such as gasoline and diesel fuel into the soil, improper disposal methods for garbage, and other sources of environmental pollution. These conditions constitute substantial hazards and a damaged quality of life for the local population.
In 2003 an NGO called “Green Rahat” was established to deal with Rahat’s environmental problems and to prevent additional hazards from arising. Green Rahat was the first citizen’s environmental group to organize in the Bedouin sector. Besides dealing directly with local environmental conditions, Green Rahat began an ambitious program to educate the population about the dangers of environmental pollution, and how to avoid or combat some of these problems.
The program includes action to educate and activate the adult population. Even more importantly, it seeks to inform and involve the youth of the town, and to encourage them to undertake initiatives to help clean up the existing problems. The youth programs focus on the practice of sound environmental behavior so as to avoid further damage to the neighborhood.
The Tal Fund was impressed by the efforts of Green Rahat to carry out this long range program to improve the quality of life for all the Rahat residents. The Fund, therefore, has made a grant to Green Rahat to carry out a special program to work with the youth of the city to initiate self-help programs. The programs are designed to raise awareness about the problems and to teach youth that they can actually do something to improve the quality of their lives by initiating “clean up the streets” projects, and helping the citizens to beautify their neighborhoods.
Local contact coordinator: Ahmed Amrani
Contact: ahmed-s@bezeqint.net