A note from Project Wadi Attir regarding the COVID-19 pandemic
Since its inception over a decade ago, Project Wadi Attir, the flagship project of The Sustainability Laboratory with a Bedouin community in the Negev, has persevered through a number of challenges, yielding great results. The project has improved the wellbeing of the Bedouin community of the Negev, enhanced women’s equality, enabled thousands of local students to receive high-quality sustainability education, restored degraded land into a thriving ecosystem, created opportunities for enterprise development and job creation, improved relationships between the Bedouin community and Israeli society, contributed to the global sustainability agenda, and more. Now, Project Wadi Attir is facing a new challenge: that of the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to this global crisis, many changes to operations at the project have been implemented. Two departments, tourism and education, have had to temporarily close, to protect the wellbeing of our students, visitors, and staff, with other onsite operations majorly scaled back. These shifts in operations will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the project as a whole, and its financial stability this year.
We write to you today with an update of the project’s activities and advances over the past few months, in celebration of all that we have accomplished until now. We also humbly ask for your support during this difficult time. Project Wadi Attir serves as a model for hope and transformation with the Bedouin community of the Negev, and we look forward to continuing this work for many years to come. During this turbulent time, we believe that Project Wadi Attir can serve as a reminder that, even in the face of great challenges, positive changes and hope can prevail. Read on for the latest from Project Wadi Attir.
Awad Alatrash tending to the herds at Project Wadi Attir
A group of students at Project Wadi Attir, with Amran Amarni, Director of Educational Services, and Meir Zilberman, a member of the project’s teaching staff
From left: Lina Alatawna, Director General of Project Wadi Attir; Michael Ben-Eli, founder of The Sustainability Laboratory; Jean-Daniel Ruch, the Swiss Ambassador to Israel; and Mohammed Alnabary, former mayor of Hura
Herbs, olive oil, and other products available for sale in the store at Project Wadi Attir
And plenty more recent highlights from the project in our latest update. We hope you enjoy it!