Problem: Restoring Rural Livelihoods in the West Bank --- in the face of high unemployment, a collapsed economy, severe restrictions on movement and no public safety net, alternative livelihood options have become a necessity for residents of the W. Bank.

NGO CARE Proposed Solution:

Through funding from BPR and partners, CARE provides materials that enable the families to store water, set-up drip-irrigation systems, purchase seeds, and grow fodder for their sheep. Training and education in new methods of low-impact, small scale horticulture, animal husbandry and marketing helps ensure that these households gain the knowledge and skills they need for long-term success.

For the last 2 years the CARE project has helped 550 vulnerable rural families in the W. Bank's Jenin District improve their livelihoods by using what for many is their only valuable asset-- their land. Working closely with these households, especially those headed by women to help them grow crops and provide access to safe drinking water.

Too much of the time via media we only hear of the fighting, killings, on and on in the West Bank region Through BPR funding and partnering with others, opportunities are being made available to help these and many other people cope.

CARE considers that in order to attain sustainability of the investments made in the development of needed water and sanitation programs and to improve the health of the Palestinian people it is necessary to develop and enhance the capacities and the skills of the community, (similar to what Land Grant Universities in the U.S.A., e.i. Clemson Cooperative Extension, and others have done and are doing) and community leaders.

The construction of water systems itself cannot reduce prevalence of water-borne diseases and improve the quality of living. Provision of sanitation facilities, environmental health education, and protection of micro-watershed areas, and strengthening of local and municipal capacity must be included in the project.

There are solutions, answers available for the taking. Not to be dictated but first to listen to the needs of the people, by the people and to share success stories about other water related projects that are working, sustainable, and to lend financial assistance to fund those projects that provided access to safe drinking water and other needs of the community.

It is a life, a world, a universe that begins on the other side of sweat and exhaustion. We are purified by that sweat. We are baptized in our own water. We have the answers at hand. Not through torture and killing, but through understanding, listening, and engaging the talents at hand that make up a community for the better of all......the community, the state, the country, the planet.

Peace and blessings, daily

***appreciation goes out to my friend, Rajesh Shah, for my inspiration story.