Tues, 16th
We leave the Dead Sea- the Desert Storm has subsided and we can see across for the first time. As we climb up the 1200 ft to sea level we stop to look down into the desert mts and can see the wadi (canyon) far below where we had lunch yesterday on our jeep ride. We cross the northe edge of the Negev desert. Bedwen settlements on bothe sides of the road and we look for shepards out with thier sheep. We stop at a Bedwen school - Laguiya-and see a class and hear from the principal and one of the teachers. The kids sing a song for us and take turns asking us questions in English. These Arab speakers learn both English and Hebrew at school. Hebrew is essential for communicating with their jewish neighbors. It is still fairly new that this group has been required to attend school at all- we see the project that the US has sponsored which teaches them about modern industries and see pictures of places they have visited. They are also learning photography and we see photos they have taken of each other.
Next we go to a Bedwen women's rights group to hear a talk from the founder of this organization. She is a very brave woman and it is very interesting to hear how she and her sister started this group and systematically figured out how to encourage women to attend and more importantly to let the men allow it. Many of these women were not allowed to leave their homes, they are bought by their husband and viewed as possessions. This group is working against odds to change that attitude through education of children, especially girls and meetings and lectures for women. So far they are having difficulty getting men to participate but are doing well at getting men to allow their wives to attend due to focusing on the needs of the children and also through helping the women learn embroidery and creating a market for their work. We bought some of their beatifully embroidered products and then we sat in a Bedwen tent on mats to eat a traditional meal they had prepared for us.
Took the bus to Tel Aviv where we had a fairwell dinner and said good-bye to our guide Chava, busdriver haumudi, and fellow travelers Daisy and Donna. 9 of us will travel on to Palestine territory. We will meet our new guide Tony at a checkpoint between Jeruselum and Jericho. The weather has cooled from113 yesterday to about 70 today with a cool breeze from the Mediteranean.
News of the day from our guide- new law now allos a Jewish person to marry a non-jewish person in Israel- not allowed before- they had to get married ouside the country.
We leave the Dead Sea- the Desert Storm has subsided and we can see across for the first time. As we climb up the 1200 ft to sea level we stop to look down into the desert mts and can see the wadi (canyon) far below where we had lunch yesterday on our jeep ride. We cross the northe edge of the Negev desert. Bedwen settlements on bothe sides of the road and we look for shepards out with thier sheep. We stop at a Bedwen school - Laguiya-and see a class and hear from the principal and one of the teachers. The kids sing a song for us and take turns asking us questions in English. These Arab speakers learn both English and Hebrew at school. Hebrew is essential for communicating with their jewish neighbors. It is still fairly new that this group has been required to attend school at all- we see the project that the US has sponsored which teaches them about modern industries and see pictures of places they have visited. They are also learning photography and we see photos they have taken of each other.
Next we go to a Bedwen women's rights group to hear a talk from the founder of this organization. She is a very brave woman and it is very interesting to hear how she and her sister started this group and systematically figured out how to encourage women to attend and more importantly to let the men allow it. Many of these women were not allowed to leave their homes, they are bought by their husband and viewed as possessions. This group is working against odds to change that attitude through education of children, especially girls and meetings and lectures for women. So far they are having difficulty getting men to participate but are doing well at getting men to allow their wives to attend due to focusing on the needs of the children and also through helping the women learn embroidery and creating a market for their work. We bought some of their beatifully embroidered products and then we sat in a Bedwen tent on mats to eat a traditional meal they had prepared for us.
Took the bus to Tel Aviv where we had a fairwell dinner and said good-bye to our guide Chava, busdriver haumudi, and fellow travelers Daisy and Donna. 9 of us will travel on to Palestine territory. We will meet our new guide Tony at a checkpoint between Jeruselum and Jericho. The weather has cooled from113 yesterday to about 70 today with a cool breeze from the Mediteranean.
News of the day from our guide- new law now allos a Jewish person to marry a non-jewish person in Israel- not allowed before- they had to get married ouside the country.
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