Friday, September 11, 2009

Weekly Report September 6th -11th, 2009

Though I am travelling in the United States this week, I am happy to report on a succesful staff trip held this week. Once a year the institute organizes a field trip for staff members to deepen their knowledge of current environmental and coexistence projects in the region. The following is a report that Miriam Sharton sent me:

1. We met Roee Elisha on the Dead Sea where he gave us a talk about his work with the Dead Sea Preservation Company (DSPC) and the major problems and possible solution specifically regarding the flooding of the hotels. It was great to what Roee has achieved and hear about the important work he is involved in. We were all impressed and proud of him- he gave an informative and interesting talk.
2. We met with Noam Ilan (NOT our Noam Ilan from Lotan) and his partner in the project Elad, who took us to the village of Susia in Southern Hevron. The residence of susia literally live in caves and shacks. Noam and Elad together with the residents of Susia installed a solar panel and a wind tower to provide enough energy for the basic needs of 8 families . We visited the site and had an interesting discussion with Noam and Elad about this project and other potential projects.
3. Next we picked up Munther Hind who took us to another village in Southern Hevron where he built and is running a small wastewater system that provides clean water to two families – 18 individuals. We heard about the project and then were invited into the house of one of the families and heard about the history and challenges of the village which is situated in a politically unstable area of the west bank.
4. We were then joined by Elan Pitchi from "Break the Silence" which is an organization started by ex- combat solders who's mission is to share with the media testimonies of soldiers who have served in the West Bank . Elan gave us a short tour of the area of southern Hevron and talked to us about the work of his organization.
5. After that we drove to Clive's house where Clive and Hani hosted us for a great BBQ dinner. Thank you Clive and Hani!!
In addition to the the staff trip, the institute enjoyed a special "simcha" (happy event) when Uri Nusinow's daughter, Avital, was married on Thursday. Congratulations to Uri and his family.
Finally, I am, in the United States this week and am heading to the Board of Trustees meeting in Baltimore with Tareq Abu Hamed, David Weisberg and Jessica Reed. Tareq and I were in Minneapolis and St. Paul Minnesota hosted by the JNF and Debbie Jewett, Abby Lutman's sister. We had a number of successful fundraising events and I had a good Mexican meal.
David

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