learning to read, promoting empowerment
Many of our partners are working in regions devastated by conflict. Feed the Minds believes that it is crucial to redress the inequalities that result from conflict – such as poverty and illiteracy – as well as working towards peace and reconciliation.
Feed the Minds has been supporting our partner Sidreh to provide literacy to Bedouin women living in the Negev Desert in southern Israel, an arid area bordered by Judaea, the Sinai Peninsula and the Mediterranean.
There are approximately 140,000 Bedouin living in this region, with about half living in seven “development towns” set up by the Israeli government. Conditions in these settlements are poor, with inadequate roads and sewage, as well as high levels of poverty. The unemployment rate in these towns is 21 per cent of the population, more than twice the national average.
It is estimated that 70,000 Bedouin have refused to move off their land into the “development towns” and continue to live in their original settlements. They inhabit “unrecognised villages” which do not officially exist and appear on no offical maps of Israel. They have no electricity, water, roads, schools or clinics; residents cannot vote and cannot access welfare programmes available to other Israeli citizens.
According to Sidreh, “The Negev Bedouin struggle to cling to their traditional way of life, one that entails living in extended family and tribal structures and the herding of livestock for their sustenance.”
The Negev Bedouin constitute 25 per cent of the Desert’s population, but have control over only three percent of the land.
All of these social problems are exacerbated by a lack of education. Sidreh works with Bedouin women to help them, through education and income-generation, take better control of their lives. Under the project, 80 women in different villages are learning to speak, read and write Arabic and Hebrew, and a group of ten educators have been trained in adult learning methodologies.
Research by the United Nations has shown that adult literacy is an important factor in encouraging children and youth to continue their education. Literate parents, particularly mothers, are more likely to encourage their children to attend school and to assist them with their schoolwork.
Educated adults are also better able to make positive health decisions for their families, and are more equipped to learn skills that will help them generate income.
Sidreh reports that the women who have graduated from their literacy programmes are more confident in dealing with authorities and are better empowered to articulate their needs on behalf of their communities and families. As their self assurance grows, these women become powerful advocates for peace and for development.
