SI MONTHLY NEWS May 2006 Members activities
From SI Exco News
Members' Activities
Closed Doors in Palestine
The Servas motto, “Open Doors”, contrasts markedly with the daily experience of most Palestinians. I visited the country in early March on a study tour and was able to tell people at the AGM a little about it.
The country of Palestine/Israel has no concept of history that is found only in dusty books. Everything is relevant and history is being written and re-written every day. A broad brush sketch only begins to describe this. In basic terms the country is divided into an Israeli part (78%) and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (22%) of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The boundary of the West Bank which was set in 1948 is known as the Green Line. Until 1967 this was ruled by Jordan. Since the six day war that happened in that year those lands have been occupied by Israel.
Today, a complex network of checkpoints, barriers, settlements, roads and military presence is establishing “facts on the ground” which are restricting Palestinian people to separated islands, on perhaps only 10 to 12% of the country. As a consequence, travel, education, health-care, work, agriculture, and many other things are becoming Closed Doors to the Palestinians.
We visited the Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim east of Jerusalem. Founded in 1978, this town currently has over 30,000 and is projected to reach 70,000 by 2010. Recent press reports suggest Israelis may pull out of some of the smaller settlements but this has crucial strategic significance. It separates Jerusalem and Jericho east-west and north-south, dividing Palestine in two. If all the planned settlement expansion in an area known as E1, together with new roads and the Separation Wall are completed it will be impossible for Palestinians to travel north to south. This is where policy is translated into concrete that is immune to negotiation.
In a small Palestinian village, Wadi Fuqeen, near to the Green Line west of Bethlehem we saw how agricultural land is confiscated and contaminated with rubble and sewage from the nearby settlement. 65% of the people in the village depend on working in Israel for which permits are needed but not always granted. Again, when the planned wall is built and the settlement expanded, the village area will reduce from 3,000 acres to less than 200. Nevertheless, the people of the village are resolute, as well as friendly and welcoming. We had coffee in a Kindergarten built and run by a small local NGO. It works with help from international organisations to raise the profile and spirits of the village.
Palestine/Israel is a tiny country packed full of wonderful people and many tragic situations. We met many folk, both Israeli and Palestinian who are working hard to build a just and lasting peace. The message we heard again and again was tell people what you have seen and encourage others to come and visit us. If you would like to learn more, please contact me on woodalls[at ]fish.co.uk or visit www.icahduk.org.
Peter Woodall – Host 06/323, England
Promijo - an Open Door, Mexico
In a dusty Mexican town a man with one leg is standing at a workbench hand-crafting a prosthetic leg. He is working with plaster, scraping it finely with a file. He stands with the stump of his right leg resting against a padded stool designed for his height. Beside him another man lays face down on a guerney and operates a welding torch. He is making wheelchairs designed especially for the rugged conditions of rural life in this poor country.
The town is Coyotitan in the State of Sinaloa. These men are working at PROJIMO, a community-based rehabilitation centre founded and run primarily by women and men with disabilities. The program was started 24 years ago, arising out of the lack of any basic services or programs for disabled persons and their families. In the absence of rehabilitation professionals the founders of the program recognised a need and an opportunity to learn how to provide essential therapies, devices, education and social support.
PROJIMO welcomes foreign and Mexican visitors alike to learn, to teach and to contribute to their program. I recently spent a week there learning and assisting in their programs. I lived with a village family and took my meals with them. I helped the coordinators, Mari and Conchita, and I attended some Spanish classes provided by Rigo. The costs were very modest, $100 US per week for room and board, and $50 per week for Spanish classes. I would encourage other adventurous travellers to consider visiting and perhaps even donating to this extraordinary organization. For further info, see www.healthwrights.org
Joel Kumove, Toronto, Canada
Servas Canada hosts and travellers, Earl and Sudhu Choldin’s blogs while volunteering in India – Feb. 2006
Sudha and I are in Delhi on a 10 week volunteer assignment through American Jewish World Service.
We are working for Swaasthya, a small NGO developing and disseminating effective methods of reproductive health service delivery to low income girls and women.
We have finally gotten settled enough that I can sit down and tell you about our blog. You can follow our experience at www.choldins.blogspot.com
