Joy at running water in a West Bank village
The women of the village are the most thankful that they have running water in the house again. For over ten years, households were running on schedules, explains Sana Arameen, 22, “We did the laundry once a week and didn’t have showers on a regular basis.” Getting connected to water has greatly eased the women’s workload. They are also pleased to be able to plant herb gardens for their home use. In Sana’s garden, mint and spinach are flourishing now even after only two weeks of a regular water supply, whereas she was not able to plant any before hand.
The cost of water is also considerably less now that the pump is installed and the village’s water network is repaired. Previously, families relied on buying water through tanks that held 10 cubic meters. With extreme rationing, this only lasted families ten days in the winter and about a week in the summer and cost 200 NIS (Approximately US$58). The pump can provide up to 55 cubic meters/90 minutes according to Zaher Jaradat, a member of the local committee that facilitated the installation of the pump and who now administers it.
Sabha Diab, Amir’s grandmother, said that her grandchildren suffered from skin rashes and always had diarrhea because the water they bought from tanks was contaminated. Jaradat concurs and said that many in the village fell ill due to the amoeba parasite. One shipment of water they bought was foul-smelling as they started to transfer it into their household cistern, Sabha complained. Buying water from tanks never guaranteed good quality, so the fact that they are now connected to clean drinking water is a cause for joy in Sabha’s household.
Water bought from tanks were the only source available and was used in cooking and drinking. “We boiled the water before we drank it, but when it was really bad, I preferred to go thirsty than drink it,” Sabha said. She continued that they could not even enjoy a decent cup of tea before; once she found an insect floating in one of the tea cups. She is all smiles and gratitude to World Vision for helping bring fresh water back to their homes since they got cutoff over ten years ago.
The village of El Uddaiseh in the East Hebron ADP is typical of most farming communities in the West Bank. They have fertile land suitable for planting seasonal vegetables and fruit that would not only provide sustenance for their families, but they could also sell their produce, which in most cases would be their major sources of income.
Unfortunately, a combination of closures due to a deteriorating political situation and water scarcity has adversely impacted this sector and crushed the dreams of farmers working their own land. While the men are happy that their homes have been reconnected with a water network, they hope that in the future, a water reservoir could be built on a hill overlooking the village in order to irrigate crops. Since the water shortage hit this village in the last decade, the farmers, some of whom were major supplier to West Bank markets, have had to leave their land in the village and rent land in other areas where the water issue is not as bad in order to keep up their income and reputation as serious farmers.
The reservoir is a dream on these farmers’ minds that has yet to materialize because if they want to build it they have to get clearance from the Israeli authorities controlling the area. The women in El Uddaiseh continue to sing the praises of World Vision, whether in homes or at a local kindergarten which World Vision rehabilitated and equipped. The day the water finally came was a big cause for celebration. Majida Al Faroukh, the director of a kindergarten that World Vision helped rehabilitate, said that despite a more regular supply of water, people still use it sparingly for fear that they would run out.
Naila Abu Samra, the East Hebron ADP Manager said, “By summertime, we hope that the water will still be flowing in the homes in El Uddaiseh village, but people here remain worried because their water supply system has been damaged in the past in order to divert water to mainly to a settlement nearby, but also to Palestinian villages en route.”
Water authorities in both the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel have issued warnings to the public that water will be scarce this summer due to insufficient rainfall this past winter. This is a cause for concern among the villagers of El Uddaiseh village, who worry that their happiness at being reconnected to the water network will be short-lived, yet they try to remain optimistic.
Water is a scarce commodity in the West Bank, while the World Health Organization (WHO) have determined that a minimum of 100 liters per capita a day is required for a person’s wellbeing, consumption in the West Bank falls short of that and averages 60 liters per capita a day.
With Israeli authorities controlling the amount of water supplied to the Palestinians, El Uddaiseh residents remain skeptical about the water situation this summer. According the B’tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, there is a huge disparity between water consumption among Israeli and Palestinian individuals, with Israeli per capita consumption reaching as high as 280 liters a day.
World Vision advocacy manager, Allyn Dhynes explains: “Such initiatives are important in helping communities maintain hope and dignity while addressing basic practical needs such as access to clean water. In the long term, we can only hope that decision makers on both the Palestinian and Israeli side will resolve their outstanding differences so that important decisions such as allocation of water resources are done fairly and sustainably.”
Springs of Life
As in the rest of the West Bank, water is also an issue in the village of Nahhalin, in the West Bethlehem ADP. It is encircled by five Israeli settlements that have taken over large areas of its land and contaminated some of its natural water resources due to sewage run-off. This has impacted their ability to cultivate their land, which is a traditional means of sustenance for this village.
One of the last remaining springs in the village was capturing water in an exposed cistern and was being used in watering crops and washing livestock. On hot summer days, the children from the village would also swim in the contaminated water. The head of the village council, Mohammed Ghayadah, said that the children complained of skin irritations and other illnesses due to being exposed to an unclean water source. The untreated water was then used to irrigate plants in the neighboring area, which meant that the produce could also have become contaminated.
The water spring was being rehabilitated when a more powerful water spring was discovered, a great source of joy for the families directly benefiting from it. Even though the spring has only just been completed, the villagers are making daily visits to the area, bringing their children along with them. Despite the fact that the spring offers only a fraction of the village’s needs, Ghayadah estimates that businesses will start to flourish on the way to the spring, economically reviving the whole village not just the immediate area where water is found.
As everywhere else in the West Bank, Nahhalin village suffers the same shortage of water. The spring will certainly quench part of the problem; however, it is not enough to supply the whole village of nearly 7000 inhabitants.
A solution to the water problems plaguing the West Bank and Gaza is hard to fathom at the moment, especially since it is intricately intertwined with politics and a resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as a whole. Nonetheless, people will continue to lay the ground work in anticipation of an eventual state. They do this in order to achieve the best quality of life they can provide for their children, hoping that one day, the future generation can enjoy the benefits.
The cost of water is also considerably less now that the pump is installed and the village’s water network is repaired. Previously, families relied on buying water through tanks that held 10 cubic meters. With extreme rationing, this only lasted families ten days in the winter and about a week in the summer and cost 200 NIS (Approximately US$58). The pump can provide up to 55 cubic meters/90 minutes according to Zaher Jaradat, a member of the local committee that facilitated the installation of the pump and who now administers it.
Sabha Diab, Amir’s grandmother, said that her grandchildren suffered from skin rashes and always had diarrhea because the water they bought from tanks was contaminated. Jaradat concurs and said that many in the village fell ill due to the amoeba parasite. One shipment of water they bought was foul-smelling as they started to transfer it into their household cistern, Sabha complained. Buying water from tanks never guaranteed good quality, so the fact that they are now connected to clean drinking water is a cause for joy in Sabha’s household.
Water bought from tanks were the only source available and was used in cooking and drinking. “We boiled the water before we drank it, but when it was really bad, I preferred to go thirsty than drink it,” Sabha said. She continued that they could not even enjoy a decent cup of tea before; once she found an insect floating in one of the tea cups. She is all smiles and gratitude to World Vision for helping bring fresh water back to their homes since they got cutoff over ten years ago.
The village of El Uddaiseh in the East Hebron ADP is typical of most farming communities in the West Bank. They have fertile land suitable for planting seasonal vegetables and fruit that would not only provide sustenance for their families, but they could also sell their produce, which in most cases would be their major sources of income.
Unfortunately, a combination of closures due to a deteriorating political situation and water scarcity has adversely impacted this sector and crushed the dreams of farmers working their own land. While the men are happy that their homes have been reconnected with a water network, they hope that in the future, a water reservoir could be built on a hill overlooking the village in order to irrigate crops. Since the water shortage hit this village in the last decade, the farmers, some of whom were major supplier to West Bank markets, have had to leave their land in the village and rent land in other areas where the water issue is not as bad in order to keep up their income and reputation as serious farmers.
The reservoir is a dream on these farmers’ minds that has yet to materialize because if they want to build it they have to get clearance from the Israeli authorities controlling the area. The women in El Uddaiseh continue to sing the praises of World Vision, whether in homes or at a local kindergarten which World Vision rehabilitated and equipped. The day the water finally came was a big cause for celebration. Majida Al Faroukh, the director of a kindergarten that World Vision helped rehabilitate, said that despite a more regular supply of water, people still use it sparingly for fear that they would run out.
Naila Abu Samra, the East Hebron ADP Manager said, “By summertime, we hope that the water will still be flowing in the homes in El Uddaiseh village, but people here remain worried because their water supply system has been damaged in the past in order to divert water to mainly to a settlement nearby, but also to Palestinian villages en route.”
Water authorities in both the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel have issued warnings to the public that water will be scarce this summer due to insufficient rainfall this past winter. This is a cause for concern among the villagers of El Uddaiseh village, who worry that their happiness at being reconnected to the water network will be short-lived, yet they try to remain optimistic.
Water is a scarce commodity in the West Bank, while the World Health Organization (WHO) have determined that a minimum of 100 liters per capita a day is required for a person’s wellbeing, consumption in the West Bank falls short of that and averages 60 liters per capita a day.
With Israeli authorities controlling the amount of water supplied to the Palestinians, El Uddaiseh residents remain skeptical about the water situation this summer. According the B’tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, there is a huge disparity between water consumption among Israeli and Palestinian individuals, with Israeli per capita consumption reaching as high as 280 liters a day.
World Vision advocacy manager, Allyn Dhynes explains: “Such initiatives are important in helping communities maintain hope and dignity while addressing basic practical needs such as access to clean water. In the long term, we can only hope that decision makers on both the Palestinian and Israeli side will resolve their outstanding differences so that important decisions such as allocation of water resources are done fairly and sustainably.”
Springs of Life
As in the rest of the West Bank, water is also an issue in the village of Nahhalin, in the West Bethlehem ADP. It is encircled by five Israeli settlements that have taken over large areas of its land and contaminated some of its natural water resources due to sewage run-off. This has impacted their ability to cultivate their land, which is a traditional means of sustenance for this village.
One of the last remaining springs in the village was capturing water in an exposed cistern and was being used in watering crops and washing livestock. On hot summer days, the children from the village would also swim in the contaminated water. The head of the village council, Mohammed Ghayadah, said that the children complained of skin irritations and other illnesses due to being exposed to an unclean water source. The untreated water was then used to irrigate plants in the neighboring area, which meant that the produce could also have become contaminated.
The water spring was being rehabilitated when a more powerful water spring was discovered, a great source of joy for the families directly benefiting from it. Even though the spring has only just been completed, the villagers are making daily visits to the area, bringing their children along with them. Despite the fact that the spring offers only a fraction of the village’s needs, Ghayadah estimates that businesses will start to flourish on the way to the spring, economically reviving the whole village not just the immediate area where water is found.
As everywhere else in the West Bank, Nahhalin village suffers the same shortage of water. The spring will certainly quench part of the problem; however, it is not enough to supply the whole village of nearly 7000 inhabitants.
A solution to the water problems plaguing the West Bank and Gaza is hard to fathom at the moment, especially since it is intricately intertwined with politics and a resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as a whole. Nonetheless, people will continue to lay the ground work in anticipation of an eventual state. They do this in order to achieve the best quality of life they can provide for their children, hoping that one day, the future generation can enjoy the benefits.
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