WRAP October 2015 Trip Images
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Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Nov06
Sep11
EcoPeace Middle East Response to New UN Report on Gaza
A New UN Report has predicted that Gaza will be uninhabitable in less than 5 Years. WRAP partner EcoPeace Middle East has put out a press release in response to this report, reproduced below. Click here to access the original press release.
September 3, 2015
Response of EcoPeace Middle East:
Catastrophic Scenarios for Israel and Egypt: 1.8 Million Possible Refugees with no Water will Move towards the Border Fences.
Will the scenes of Syrian refugees in Budapest and Calais be replicated with Gazans marching towards Tel Aviv?
EcoPeace Middle East, a regional environmental NGO run by Palestinians, Israelis and Jordanians together, calls on the Government of Israel and the International Community to act urgently to avoid the humanitarian disaster facing Gaza with inevitable consequences for the region.
A new UN report warns that if current socioeconomic trends continue, Gaza will become uninhabitable in less than 5 years. One of the key issues according to the report is water and sanitation. The UN already established in 2012 that Gaza’s main source of potable water, the Coastal Aquifer, will be unfit for human use by 2016 due to rising salinity levels that are the result of over-extraction. Furthermore, severe electricity shortage, both prior to the last war in 2014 and much more so in its aftermath, impedes the work of wastewater treatment and brackish water desalination facilities. The lack of sanitation solutions in particular threatens public health both in Gaza and in Israel, increasing the chances of epidemics such as cholera and typhoid that if erupt in Gaza will not stop at the border.
Gidon Bromberg, Israeli Co-Director, EcoPeace Middle East said: “The writing is on the wall. If Gaza’s water economy is allowed to collapse, tens of thousands of Gazans will start walking towards the border fences of Israel and Egypt. What will the Israeli or Egyptian military do? Would they dare shoot at civilians desperate for drinking water? As we see daily in Budapest and Calais desperate people will stop at nothing to try to save themselves and their families.”
Israel is in fact already affected by the lack of proper water and sanitation infrastructure in Gaza. 90,000 CM of sewage makes its way to the Mediterranean from Gaza every day, carried by the natural currents towards Ashkelon beach, where Israel desalinates water for domestic use. Israel has a vested interest in alleviating the water shortage in the Strip by further increasing the water currently supplied to Gaza, as well as providing electricity for sanitation solutions.
Bromberg added: “Urgent Israeli action needed will allow the Palestinians and the international donor community more time to secure electricity sources and funding for longer term solutions, mainly large scale desalination and waste water treatment. EcoPeace calls on the Government of Israel and the International Community to facilitate once again the doubling of water sold by Israel to Gaza from 10 MCM to 20 MCM – the overall capacity of the existing infrastructure, and provide the missing 3 MW of electricity to the Northern Gaza Emergency Sewage Treatment facility recently completed but inoperable due to lack of sufficient energy”.
For more information please call:
Gidon Bromberg,
Israeli Director, EcoPeace Middle East
Cell: (972) 52 4532597
Erin Falah,
International Media Coordinator
Cell: (972) 50 3322184
Aug14
Upcoming Lecture on WRAP, Kidron Valley, Environmental Peacebuilding
Environmental Peacebuilding in Israel and Palestine through People-to-People Programs
On August 23, Dr. Malcolm Siegel, Director of Operations and Education, Water Resources Action Project, Inc. and Liora Miron, Master Planner for the Kidron/Wadi al Nar Transboundary Basin will present about programs in Israel and the West Bank promoting cooperation on environmental projects and people-to-people peace-building efforts. Learn how local organizations in New Mexico are supporting these exciting efforts.
August 23, 2015, 5 to 7 PM
Jewish Community Center, 5520 Wyoming Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM.
The event is free and open to the public.
-select image below to view details-
Jun09
Sur Baher School Holds Year-End Science Fair
May 2015
On Sunday May 31, 2015, Zoubaida Salman, Science teacher at the Sur Baher School for Girls and Project Educator for WRAP’s rainwater harvesting project within the school, hosted a science fair featuring the science projects and experiments of over 50 students.
The theme of the fair was “Your Health From Your Lifestyle” and the projects represented the culmination of many efforts by Zoubaida to enhance the science and environmental education within her school over the past year. In a letter recapping the Science Fair, Zoubaida reflected on the year’s projects, writing:
“This year our school ran several unique science programs. We further developed the herb and water garden, and began producing our own essential oils. We also continued the after school science program, where we provided additional science classes for interested students. We produced our own homemade natural products, including soaps, perfumes, and cosmetics. Our rain harvesting system provided water for toilet flushing, as well as a platform for research. Twenty of our advanced 7th grade science students attended an after school program at the Jerusalem Science Museum. All these programs are laying the foundation for a better future for these young women.”
The science and environmental education curriculum has been enhanced by the rainwater harvesting system and WRAP’s continued involvement within the school, made possible by WRAP’s donors and volunteers. Contributions to help continue and further expand these educational programs within Sur Baher and across WRAP’s network of schools are appreciated by WRAP, the school children, and devoted educators like Zoubaida. Zoubaida’s letter reiterates her thanks to all donors and concludes, “With your help, inshallah, our students will become future scientists, health professionals, and most importantly confident and educated members of society.”
WRAP is working to meet additional resource needs for science experiments related to water quality. In collaboration with the Albuquerque Academy Desert Oasis Teaching Garden, WRAP is connecting students at Sur Baher with students in the U.S. through shared rainwater harvesting and environmental education projects. Sur Baher is also working with WRAP to share its environmental education stories through the “For My Earth” Environmental E-Book, a program at University of New Mexico that seeks to publish e-books featuring stories about students involved in environmental projects.
To learn more and to support the continuation and growth of the environmental education programs at Sur Baher, please contact ccourtin@wrapdc.org.
May04
WRAP Presents to Kol Tikvah Congregation
On February 23, 2015 WRAP’s Executive Director, Brendan McGinnis, presented to the Kol Tikvah congregation in Parkland, Florida on WRAP’s ongoing work with the Rotary Hands Across Waters program to facilitate cultural exchanges related to rainwater harvesting and conservation across a network of schools in Israel.
To read a write up of the presentation, click here.
To learn more about Hands Across Waters, click here.
Apr20
WRAP Completes Second West Bank Project
Village of Husan, West Bank | April 23, 2015
The Water Resources Action Project (WRAP) recently completed construction of its second project in the West Bank. WRAP, in partnership with EcoPeace Middle East’s Bethlehem Office, constructed a cistern system at the Al-Sedeeq Primary School located in the Village of Husan in the West Bank, an area with an average annual rainfall of only 500 mL. Al-Sedeeq is a public school serving 389 Arab boys in 13 grades. The school’s primary source of water is an unreliable municipal water source, and because of this, the school experienced over 30 days of restroom closures due to water shortages last year.
This is WRAP’s sixth project in the Middle East, following successful rain barrel and cistern system installations at schools in East Jerusalem, Northern Israel, and the West Bank. “With the completion of this project, WRAP is continuing our commitment to address water security issues within this region in an informed manner,” stressed WRAP’s Executive Director, Brendan McGinnis. “We are pleased to have built on the successful model established with our first West Bank cistern and hope that we may continue to do so in other areas of the West Bank. Al-Sedeeq will be an integral part of the network of schools with similar programs that WRAP is establishing throughout Israel, Palestine, and soon, Jordan.”
The cistern system, an underground cement storage tank, holds rainwater collected and diverted from the roof of the school. The rainwater is then pumped to the school’s restrooms, where it is utilized for toilet flushing. The cistern holds up to 62,000 liters of rainwater, greatly reducing the school’s cost for water and vulnerability to an unreliable municipal water source. The project would help to ensure continued usage of clean restrooms throughout the entire school year and provide the possibility for summer classes and community gardening.
The overall effort includes a supplemental environmental curriculum overseen by EcoPeace to heighten water awareness and conservation, while empowering local water resources stewardship. Water conservation, the interconnectedness of the surrounding ecosystem, and hands-on student engagement in monitoring and reporting of rainfall collection and usage data serve as the foundation for the program. WRAP and EcoPeace will work closely with the school to ensure the system is regularly and properly maintained. This arrangement with EcoPeace Middle East has been successfully executed at various WRAP project schools in the past, including a similar cistern system installed in July 2013 at the Battir Girls School in the West Bank.
The installation of the cistern at the Al-Sedeeq School and the parallel environmental curriculum was made possible thanks to grants from the Jerusalem Fund, the Firedoll Foundation, and the April Fund. Through this project, WRAP strives to not only alleviate the struggles associated with water shortages in this region, but also encourage the students and greater community to collaborate on stewarding this precious natural resource.
Mar25
WRAP’s Latest Resources
WRAP has developed and updated two key resources with our latest progress and goals for the future. Click each photo to read the summary documents and see what we’re up to! Visit our Resources Page for much more.
WRAP Progress Report 2014-2015
WRAP Project Summary Two-Pager
Feb12
Join WRAP at J Street Conference
WRAP is a participating organization in J Street’s 5th National Conference, A Clear Choice for a Better Future. The Conference, Gala and Advocacy Day will be the largest gathering of pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans in history, bringing together Israeli, Palestinian and American leaders, experts, innovators and activists in Washington, DC from March 21-24, 2015.
Join us at the conference: Register today with promo code PARTORG10 and receive 10% off the cost of your ticket!
Dec22
WRAP Up 2014: Year in Review
The Water Resources Action Project (WRAP) has concluded another successful year of installing, maintaining, and planning for rainwater harvesting and environmental education projects in the Middle East. WRAP’s Year In Review provides all the latest updates on current projects from the group’s most recent trip to the region, highlights of major milestones from the past year, and a look at what’s on the horizon for 2015.
To read the full Year in Review, visit https://www.wrapdc.org/newsletter2014/index.html.
