The Bedouin youth village Neve Midbar (oasis) is an excellent example of Keren Hayesod’s activities on behalf of various population groups in Israeli society. “Every chapter in a person’s life is accompanied by a dream”, says Tamer Abu-Jafar, a young Bedouin graduate of and instructor at the Bedouin youth village in Nitzana, who recently received the President’s Award for Volunteering. “The dream of this chapter in my life is to improve the socio-economic situation of Bedouin society”. Tamer joined the “Desert Stars” association, which helps the Bedouins of the Negev. He then became a homeroom teacher in the Neve Midbar Bedouin youth village in Nitzana. At the age of 17, Tamer already understood that he wanted to achieve something. He decided to take responsibility for his life and to work to improve the lives of the next generation of Bedouin. The Neve Midbar youth village, the first of its kind in Israel, was established in 2015 in Nitzana in the Negev, with the support of Keren Hayesod, in order to create a new generation of change agents to promote coexistence and equality for members of all religions in Israel – whether Jewish, Christian, Druse, Muslim or Bedouin. The following year, over 100 students were already studying at the village. Demand is high, and the programs grow from year to year. Keren Hayesod has many programs, such as Net@, Youth Futures and pre-army academies, that support disadvantaged communities from different sectors of Israeli society, out of a true sense of mission and deep belief that the next generation will determine what our future looks like.
Photo: Students at the Bedouin youth village Neve Midbar, 2018