Rethinking our strategy


It’s been pretty difficult establishing contact with organizations or individuals in Israel and the West Bank. Lukas and I have reached out to so many organizations (at least 40 so far) that somehow deal with water issues, and only a small handful of those have replied. An even smaller amount has offered assistance. Needless to say, it’s been a little frustrating. There are so many groups affected by water, and there are so many problems surrounding water itself. People in East Jerusalem have a very different story than those who live in Area C in the West Bank. But the core issue is that many people aren’t receiving enough water. We’ve been told multiple times that there are 2.6 million people in the area with water issues. So where do we begin?

So, now we are back to square one, kind of. We’re going back through the list of organizations that we’ve contacted, and are planning on showing up to their offices and asking to speak to someone. The worst they can say is no. But with the organizations spread out over Ramallah, Bethlehem, Hebron, Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv, it’s a little difficult. And finding street addresses in the West Bank is nearly impossible. But we’re slowly working through it all and I feel confident with the direction we’re going. Regardless of what happens, at the end of this journey I will walk away having learned a lot about research, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and most importantly, myself.

 

Jerusalem

A view from the Old City of Jerusalem. This city is absolutely beautiful.

A picture from one of our adventures traveling into  Ramallah. The concrete wall separates Israel from the West Bank.

A picture from one of our adventures traveling into Ramallah. The concrete wall separates Israel from the West Bank.

Even though we’ve had some bumps in the road, we have had some good news as well. Lukas will be writing a blog post in a little bit sharing some of our successes.

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