Miriam Hussein Mahmoud al-Najjar is a woman in her fifties. Many years ago, her husband remarried, leaving her to care for their six children on her own. This small family was left without a breadwinner; the children were forced to grow up under harsh social and economic conditions. Her two daughters and four sons, one of whom is disabled, are all married now and are living in her house. Miriam was blessed with six innocent grandchildren; they were unaware of the burden it is for their family to raise them in such living conditions.
This family’s income does not exceed 1,000 NIS per month. Their daily food intake highly consists on legumes and a few vegetables cultivated from a small piece of land adjacent to the family home. Miriam is one of the home gardens activity beneficiaries within the AMENCA 2 project. “I am very happy with this garden, especially the greenhouse. As soon as MA’AN Center equipped me with them on my two arcs of land, I took the risk and spent the money I had made efforts to save over the years to expand the greenhouse. I felt it would be helpful and would support my family, and I,” says Ms. Miriam.
In spite of her old age and poor education, speaking to Miriam enables one to sense her innate intelligence. One can be certain of this intelligence when visiting her garden, which she was able to exploit optimally in a way where she achieved expected benefits from the project. She has planted the greenhouse with tomatoes that were distributed by the project, and has added other plants consumed by the family, such as mallows, pumpkins, thymes, sages and peppers.
“For nearly a month, I have not bought most of our consumed vegetables from the market,” Ms. Miriam says, “I used to buy 20 kilograms of tomatoes every other day. I haven’t bought tomatoes in a month. My poor neighbors are also happy as I have not forgotten them after I had been overwhelmed by God’s grace. I have been also able, through selling the surplus of seasonal vegetables planted in the open area, such as okras and mallows, to easily buy meat and chicken for my family after it had been extremely difficult to do so.”
Miriam bends to cut the unfavorable weed from her seedlings, and her two granddaughters stand close to her attempting to learn from her and do like her. She is happy for their happiness.
Successful rabbit distribution activity in Gaza alleviate dependency
Israel’s occupation of Palestine has resulted in numerous violations of rights and restrictions on daily life for the Palestinian people. One of the most appalling violations of international humanitarian law is Israel’s and Egypt’s siege and blockade of the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians are confined to the area and due to the blockade only restricted humanitarian supplies are allowed to enter. The blockade is now in its third year resulting in severe poverty, malnutrition, lack of education for children and an unemployment rate that reached 44.3 percent in the end of 2009. According to a survey conducted by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in May 2008, more than 70 percent of the families in Gaza were living in extreme poverty, meaning an income of less than US$1 a day per person, excluding humanitarian assistance. The same percentage constitutes the number of households receiving humanitarian assistance of which the bulk is food assistance. The year 2009 began as a humanitarian disaster with a severe Israeli military offensive not seen since 1967. Following the 23 day attack during which over a thousand lives were taken, the people in Gaza were left with an increasing impoverishment and more dependent on humanitarian aid than ever.
MA’AN Development Center is carrying out a number of programs within, among other areas, food security and poverty reduction in Gaza and the West Bank. One of MA’AN’s programs, funded by the Australian Government (AusAID) and in partner with APHEDA, is the Rural Livelihoods and Food Security through Capacity Building Project. The program started in May 2009 and will last for five years. It is partly aimed at achieving a long standing change in the lives of people and to help them out of dependency on humanitarian aid. One of the activities implemented in the Gaza Strip was rabbit distribution. 100 units of rabbits were distributed to needy households where each unit consisted of one male and two females. The targeted families were given training in handling the rabbits and the task was then to care for them until they reproduced and would then be a potential source of income as well as food.
The activity is ongoing and very successful. There are currently families with small farms of rabbits enabling them to get an income and also partly securing their food intake. Najah Qudaih is one of the beneficiaries in this activity. She lives in the Abassan area and was one of the households receiving two units of rabbits. She and her husband are now housing no less than five cages full of rabbits of all colors. The two cages they received have turned into a small farm for which they both are very proud and are talking about their success with great enthusiasm and happiness. When MA’AN visited the couple, the level of joy increased as we could see one of the rabbits giving birth to twelve babies all of which were immediately handled with love and care by the couple.
The income from the rabbits helped the couple to improve their financial situation and also provided them with a satisfying assignment. They excitedly expressed a wish to expand their business in the future.
Another family also benefitting from this particular activity is Leila Msabbeh who is living with her husband and six children in the same area as Najah Qudaih. Her husband has been unemployed for many years and they live in a dilapidated house. The house consists of two shaky bedrooms and a bathroom and as there is no door or lobby, it feels more like living out on the street than in a house. The family has been living on food aid for a long time, so when Leila heard about this project from the local committee, she quickly submitted her application. She initially thought that the project was another strict food aid project but when she realized that it was providing rabbits, she became happy as it is not only a food source, but also the means for a secure income, if only a small one, for the family. Since the family was already receiving food aid and thus was in need of other things rather than just food this was perfect. Leila was trained into taking care of the rabbits and is now caring for them as if they are her children. She says “the needs of my own children will, to some extent, be met through the rabbits so they definitely deserve the effort.” She is currently only selling the rabbits and is not feeding them to her family as she wants to ensure success by providing fodders for the rabbits so they will grow and breed before they start eating them. She thanks God for how fruitful her efforts has been.
One of her children, a 12 year old girl who clearly is tainted with the features of poverty, from the tattered clothes to the bare feet which are cleaved due to rarely wearing shoes, lets us know that they will feast on some of the rabbits when Ramadan month comes, which they are impatiently waiting for.
Promotion of small scale farmers’ olive oil
MA’AN Development Center, in partnership with Smiling Children and the Welfare Association, recently completed a highly successful organic olive oil production project working with Bidya Cooperative Association in the village of Bidya, and the surrounding cluster of villages that share the same land (Salfit district), in the north of the West Bank. The project aimed to improve olive tree cultivation and production of olive oil by targeting 30 organic small-scale farmers. The project sought to produce and market premium quality extra virgin olive oil produced under the fair trade mark, thus appealing to foreign consumers.
Palestine has a long history of olive oil cultivation, some olive trees have stood for 100s of years and stand as a symbol of Palestine.
Since the occupation of the West Bank that brought extensive land confiscation for settlements and roads as well as the building of the separation wall, many olive trees have been destroyed and farmers have lost land which has had adverse effects on the olive oil industry.
Part of the project was to conduct two workshops in order to develop farmers’ existing knowledge and expertise in olive cultivation, harvesting and olive oil production. Farmers were also supplied with essential tools for pruning, harvesting and taking care of their trees. The project also worked to improve the production infrastructure to ensure that the cooperative has the capacity to produce premium olive oil. The project refurbished the olive presses to ensure that they produced pure oil with few impurities and imperfections and that the viscosity, color and taste were preserved.
viscosity, color and taste were preserved.
Over the two years, the farmers produced almost 12 tons of olive oil, premium extra virgin olive oil and organic olive oil, a great improvement in quality on previous production.
Bidya cooperative association worked to press and market the olive oil and Al’ard Palestinian Agri-products (Anabtawi Group) was contracted to do the bottling and shipping. Four tons of this oil was sold to Oxfam and four tons was bottled under the name Palestine Gold and exported to Europe through Smiling Children.
The project was recognized by national and international tasters who described the oil as “beautiful… [and] well appropriated to a clientele who appreciate olive oil rather green and intense.”
The tasters were also highly impressed with the quality of the olive oil, the standard of the procedures in creating the olive oil and the professionalism of the staff in the bottling plant. The oil was also tested in laboratories at Bir Zeit University.
As well as the farmers who have directly benefitted from new skills, knowledge, and tools, their families have also benefitted from the increased yield rates of olive oil which has brought more income for entire families. The project successfully managed to upgrade the level of production. This project proved that Palestine has the capabilities and capacities to produce premium olive oil. Its natural resources – the fertile soil and climate – create high quality olives which just require the right knowledge, skills and equipment to make premium olive oil, which this project has achieved.
The cooperation of different organizations at the local, national, regional and international levels as well as with the private sector made this a highly successful project and MA’AN hopes this cooperation can serve as a model for future projects. MA’AN is keen to build on the experience and achievements gained in Bidya and spread the knowledge of premium olive oil cultivation to farmers throughout Palestine.
The Construction of Kadoorie Building #2
The Palestine Technical University is a higher education institution and one of the largest in Palestine. Its main building, the Kadoorie Building #2, was built with funds left by Mr. Ellis Kadoorie, an Iraqi Jewish businessman who lived in Hong Kong. He had a great interest in education and during his lifetime founded schools in Hong Kong and China. Upon his death, he left money for education in Palestine and an agricultural school was subsequently established in Tulkarem, which later became the Palestine Technical College.
During the second Intifada the Kadoorie Building #2, one of the college’s main buildings, suffered extensive destruction due to brutal Israeli attacks because of its strategic location next to the green line and a permanent Israeli military camp. The damage from the Israeli incursions was horrific and more than 35% of the total infrastructure of the entire college complex was damaged. During the 4 years before the project started, the college struggled to maintain itself and had to close the campus for more than 100 days because of the imminent danger imposed by Israeli forces. Students have few other academic opportunities in this marginalized area and the college was struggling to meet their needs. All technical laboratories and workshops were destroyed making the ability to do technical training for students impossible. Seeing one of the only avenues of improvement and education has had an immense negative effect on the social fabric of the areas and the psychological outlook of students.
In 2004, MA’AN was approached by the Kadoorie Charitable Foundation expressing their wish to renovate the building after the damage it suffered during the Intifada. The project also received funding and support from the Arab Fund for Economic and social Development in Kuwait, the Kadoorie Friends Society, Tulkarem and the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education & Higher Education (PTC- Tulkarem).
The US$1.2 million project reconstructed the entire building as the damage was so extensive. The new 4-floor building now contains 16 new classrooms, basic chemistry, physics and biology labs, a computer lab, and a cafeteria. The reconstruction of the building also contributed to the infrastructure needed to transform the college into a university. Shortly after the culmination of the project, the Ministry of Education awarded the college this university status. The university is now thriving once again and enrolment, especially among women, is up.
MA’AN would again like to thank the generous donation from the Kadoorie Charitable Foundation in Hong Kong and the other organisations for funding this project to develop education in Palestine.
Mr.Radhwan Hassan happy and proud of his rabbits
Mr. Radhwan Hassan from Al Zaytoun, who lives in a neighborhood known for its poverty and was severely affected during the last war on the Gaza Strip, is a paralyzed husband and father who survived a violent car accident. He currently gets around with the assistance of a motorized wheelchair. Until recently, Mr. Hassan preferred isolation and silence because of his inability to support his family or take care of them like a regular father.
Five months after receiving our rabbit unit, Mr. Hassan welcomed us into the place where he keeps his rabbits, a room full of rabbit cages, not unlike a little farm, and proudly showed us his successful project.
With a big smile on his face and looking full of optimism, he said for the first time “welcome,” and added “thank you very much indeed, really life has turned around for me because of you, and now I have the chance to prove that my condition will never stop me from taking care of my family.”
While we were talking with Mr. Hassan he received a call from a customer asking for rabbits. Mr. Hassan told us “I have sold many newborn rabbits. I’ve made 1,500 NIS this month and more than 1,000 NIS last month. Before this project I used to depend totally on loans and help from my neighbors to survive.”
Mr. Yahya Al Gharbawy looking after his rebbits
Mr. Yahya Al Gharabawy from Al Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City is a 43 year old father, but he has lived the life of a lame powerless man and has struggled to provide for his 5 children, all of them attending primary and secondary schools.
Mr. Al Gharabawy has been unemployed for nine years. Before that, he worked as a laborer inside the green line with an excellent wage that satisfied all his family’s needs at the time.
Just a few months after receiving the rabbit unit he started his own business by selling the newborns and quickly expanded the project with his own handmade wooden cages. He said: “Now I have a job and I can proudly give my little boy his pocket money when he goes to school in the morning. Before, I used to hide from him every morning because I didn’t have half a shekel in the entire house; it was extremely frustrating for me.”
Mr. Khmes Kao'd and his rabbit
Mr. Khames Kao’d is an unemployed Gazan father of five small children. He built his own house with his own hands from any available materials he could obtain, among them second hand rusted steel panels and tainted wood bars. As a result, he and his family live in extremely poor and unhealthy conditions. They even used to share their house with a horse that Mr. Kao’d borrowed occasionally for work.
Mr. Kao’d said: “I have always dreamed of starting my own business, but I have never had the opportunity to do so, finally you gave me the chance and made my dreams come true.” He added, “Now it is a daily task for me to check on my rabbits and take care of them. I have watched them grow and get bigger everyday like my own kids.”
Mr. Kao’d told us with the confidence of a businessman, “I decided that keeping rabbits will be my career, and already I have started my own farm and have borrowed some money from friends to install more cages myself and I’ve even bought some extra female rabbits to increase the productivity of my farm.”
Mr. Kamal A'kela checking on his roof top garden
Mr. Khames Kao’d is an unemployed Gazan father of five small children. He built his own house with his own hands from any available materials he could obtain, among them second hand rusted steel panels and tainted wood bars. As a result, he and his family live in extremely poor and unhealthy conditions. They even used to share their house with a horse that Mr. Kao’d borrowed occasionally for work.
Mr. Kao’d said: “I have always dreamed of starting my own business, but I have never had the opportunity to do so, finally you gave me the chance and made my dreams come true.” He added, “Now it is a daily task for me to check on my rabbits and take care of them. I have watched them grow and get bigger everyday like my own kids.”
Mr. Kao’d told us with the confidence of a businessman, “I decided that keeping rabbits will be my career, and already I have started my own farm and have borrowed some money from friends to install more cages myself and I’ve even bought some extra female rabbits to increase the productivity of my farm.”
The activity is ongoing and very successful. There are currently families with small farms of rabbits enabling them to get an income and also partly securing their food intake. Najah Qudaih is one of the beneficiaries in this activity. She lives in the Abassan area and was one of the households receiving two units of rabbits. She and her husband are now housing no less than five cages full of rabbits of all colors. The two cages they received have turned into a small farm for which they both are very proud and are talking about their success with great enthusiasm and happiness. When MA’AN visited the couple, the level of joy increased as we could see one of the rabbits giving birth to twelve babies all of which were immediately handled with love and care by the couple. 
project from the local committee, she quickly submitted her application. She initially thought that the project was another strict food aid project but when she realized that it was providing rabbits, she became happy as it is not only a food source, but also the means for a secure income, if only a small one, for the family. Since the family was already receiving food aid and thus was in need of other things rather than just food this was perfect. Leila was trained into taking care of the rabbits and is now caring for them as if they are her children. She says “the needs of my own children will, to some extent, be met through the rabbits so they definitely deserve the effort.” She is currently only selling the rabbits and is not feeding them to her family as she wants to ensure success by providing fodders for the rabbits so they will grow and breed before they start eating them. She thanks God for how fruitful her efforts has been. 
