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In a tour that began with the biblical story about Hagar and Ishmael at Lake Yeruham and ended with an introduction to a future eco-tourism initiative in the Bedouin community of Qasr A-Sir, the members of the Social Leadership Program in Ofakim learned a valuable lesson about resource allocation and entrepreneurship
" Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink." (Genesis 21:19).
This biblical verse, which tells the tale of Hagar wandering the desert with her son, Ishmael, opened the tour at Lake Yeruham and Hagar Well of the fellows of the Social Leadership Program in Ofakim. The tour was led by Uri Pinto, southern region coordinator of the "City in Transition" program sponsored by "Zionism 2000". The quote served as the motto for the entire tour, which aimed at opening the participants' eyes to the shared problems of the region's inhabitants, problems that go beyond the size of the community, its status or population.
During the tour, which was held on May 11, 2011, the program's fellows visited the town of Yeruham and the Bedouin community of Qasr A-Sir, which is located near Dimona and is currently in the process of receiving recognition from the State authorities. After the opening visit to Lake Yeruham, the participants met with Mr. Michael Biton, who was recently elected mayor of the Yeruham Local Council. Biton, a fellow of the Mandel School for Educational Leadership, discussed with the participants the similarities between Ofakim and Yeruham, and stressed the importance of reducing the city's dependence on the government, and the need to rectify the years' long imbalance between different local authorities in the allocation of resources. Mr. Biton also emphasized the need to form trilateral collaborations between sectors within the community that are supervised by the mayor, much like a conductor leads an orchestra.. He gave the example of a collaboration between the local council, representing the public sector, with "Zionism 2000", which is itself funded by a financial body, in this case the Fishman Group.
The participants visited two projects initiated by "Zionism 2000" that illustrate such collaborations. The first, Etgarim Center, is a bicycle riding center that also focuses on developing bicycle trails in Yeruham and the surrounding area. The second project, Hangar 52, serves as a music center for local youth. The participants ate lunch at the Phoenicia Glass Works factory in town.
The second part of the tour took the participants to the Bedouin community of Qasr A-Sir, where they met with the local elementary school principal and council representative at the Abu Basma Local Council, Mr. Mahmad Al-Huashla, who presented the community's path to recognition and the process involved. Al-Huashla gave an overview of the relationship between the village, the Abu Basma Local Council, the Ministry of the Interior and the State of Israel. The participants then met with Mr. Ra'ed Al-Mickawi, Director general of the Bustan organization, which works in the Bedouin and Jewish communities of the Negev to promote fair resource allocation, as well as social and environmental justice for all peoples in the region through analysis, education, and action. Mr. Al-Mickawi spoke about the plan to build an eco-tourism facility in the village, and the participants visited the construction site. The facility will make use of solar energy and other elements of green planning that are based on traditional Bedouin methods, as well as on more recent permaculture principles. The tour at the village revealed the living conditions there, and the gap that exists between the vision and initiative on the one hand, and the current reality in the village which is undergoing the process of receiving legal recognition from the State.
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