Incubator for Bedouin-Jewish Initiatives
The Incubator for Bedouin-Jewish Initiatives was established in 2017 when Atid Bamidbar joined forces with Yeroham citizens' action group Regional Fabric (est. 2005) and Yeroham Municipality to promote government recognition of neighboring Rahma, improve village infrastructures and living conditions, increase residents’ educational and employment opportunities, and develop shared society activities to ensure peaceful coexistence now and in the future.
Please contact Yael Agmon for details of all projects and how you can help: yaelagmon@gmail.com,
Tel. +972-50-7984012.
Recognition
On November 3, 2021, Rahma received state recognition—a hard-won legal victory that Atid Bamidbar staff helped promote. We are now working to help implement the government’s decision, and to extract budgets for Rahma residents as promised by the government’s five-year plan for Bedouin society (passed in March 2022).
Youth Education
Rahma residents no longer have to send their children to travel long distances by bus to learn. Atid Bamidbar, Regional Fabric, and our partners have helped Rahma residents open three kindergartens and, most recently, Rahma Elementary School (est. 2020).
Prior to the school’s establishment, and during the Covid period, we provided village children with Hebrew, English, and math enrichment in partnership with Regional Fabric and with the support of Lion of Judah Israel.
In 2021 in collaboration with Lasova/Kadima, Regional Fabric, and AJEEC, we launched the Negev’s first Bedouin "Youth Home" (center for afternoon enrichment activities) at Rahma School.
In collaboration with MindCET – EdTech Innovation Center, and with the support of the Jewish Federation of Philadelphia, we’re promoting the Springboard to High Tech project to expose Bedouin young people to the world of hi-tech and integrate them into it.
Rahma’s recent government recognition represents a historic opportunity to promote the community's socioeconomic growth and sustainability. This cannot be achieved without its women becoming an intrinsic part of the process by making their voices, talents, earning capacity, and decision-making skills felt.
Ajram – العجرم
Ajram Bedouin Women’s Initiative (est. 2017) enables Rahma’s women to sew and embroider their way to independence.
Courageous Bedouin women’s empowerment activist Salima Sagaira founded Ajram under Atid Bamidbar and Regional Fabric auspices to help alleviate poverty in her village.
Bedouin Tourism Training
In 2008, Atid Bamidbar brought tourism training to Rahma. Project graduates are incorporated into our Community-Based Tourism activities, where they find remunerative and steady work sharing their cultural heritage and personal stories with visiting groups. To date, we’ve trained and now employ six local guides, four of them women, whom we provide with PR, marketing, CRM, and salaries.
Hebrew as a Second Language
Currently supported by Lion of Judah Israel, this initiative began in 2019 with Jewish volunteers teaching Hebrew to Rahma’s women in their homes. In 2021, partial funding from Rayan—the Ministry of Economics-subsidiary organization that encourages Bedouin employment—enabled Atid Bamidbar to hire a professional teacher. Demand for Hebrew language learning continues to grow among the village’s wives and mothers, who wish to participate in their community’s nascent, domestic slow-tourism industry as well as find employment elsewhere.
Capacity Development for Goat and Sheep Farmers
A global need exists for creative thinking about how to help smallholder subsistence livestock farmers—many of whom are socioeconomically disempowered women—transition to sustainable small-scale commercial livestock agriculture.
This initiative aims to provide Rahma’s goat and sheep farmers with environmentally responsible strategies for increasing herd health and producing wholesome and nutritious milk, saleable cheeses, and other products.
Women's Empowerment
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White Hill Farm
Named for a large, off-white natural hill on Yeroham’s outskirts, White Hill Farm provides Rahma and Yeroham residents of all ages with fun educational activities promoting healthy lifestyles, environmental responsibility, and an appreciation of nature—all while enhancing positive neighborly relations.
Promoting Health
This initiative promotes Bedouin awareness of health issues via healthy nutrition and cooking workshops and related activities. During the height of the Covid pandemic, Atid Bamidbar sponsored meetings in Rahma and in Bedouin communities throughout the Negev aimed at vaccine awareness.
Good Neighbors
Atid Bamidbar is a co-founder and leading member of Good Neighbors Network in the Negev, numbering 9 grassroots Bedouin and Jewish organizations and 40 activists in 14 Bedouin and Jewish localities. The Network’s mission is to deepen acquaintance between residents of neighboring Jewish and Bedouin communities, build a foundation of trust and collaboration, share best practices, create grassroots social change, and influence public policy.