Paired Schools Program Expansion, Israel
WRAP has teamed with the Arava Institute’s Youth Environmental Education and Peace Initiative (YEEPI) program, the only school-centered network for peace building in Israel that increases trust between Jewish and Arab Israeli/Palestinian youth through the common goal of protecting their shared environment. WRAP and YEEPI piloted a joint effort to establish water stewardship as a key point of connection for partner schools located in close proximity, while setting tangible goals for their cooperation on environmental problems. In January 2014, WRAP and YEEPI completed construction of a rainwater harvesting system at its initial paired schools in northern Israel – Tuba Zangaria (Arab Israeli/Palestinian middle school) and Eynot Yarden (Jewish middle school). As part of its joint curriculum, encounters between students from the two schools are beginning to build cross-cultural ties through the students’ shared experience of water conservation and common understanding of environmental stewardship.
A second pair of schools (one Jewish and one Arab Israeli/Palestinian) has been identified for expansion of the paired program in Ort Holon and Ort Lod based on shared environmental, educational, and cultural conditions and challenges. WRAP is proposing to construct a rain barrel harvesting system at each school, and YEEPI will be responsible for implementing the shared environmental curriculum. Ort Holon, located in Holon City, is a coed school serving 1,288 Jewish students (grades 7-12). Ort Lod, in Lod City, is also coed and serves 800 Arab Israeli/Palestinian students (grades 7-12). Students of both schools are located in disadvantaged, underserved communities of Israel. Each school’s leadership has been approached and is fully supportive of the program, as well as committed to the long-term shared responsibilities required of each WRAP project partner.
This expanded pilot effort embodies WRAP’s desire to connect schools with students from varying cultures, background, and beliefs, and to collaboratively address environmental and education needs while breaking down communication barriers and mistrust.
Once this project is fully funded and complete, a number of additional schools with similar needs have been identified in Israel, West Bank, and Jordan.
Lenticular Secondary School for Girls, Jordan
This project aims to combine the resources of WRAP and its in-country partner, EcoPeace Middle East’s Amman Office, to advance environmental stewardship and education in underserved communities of Jordan. For this effort, WRAP and FoEME would construct a rainwater harvesting system at the Lenticular Secondary School for Girls in Al Adaseya, Jordan. A parallel environmental education program would be implemented within the school, to include hands-on monitoring and reporting of system data by students and ongoing communication amongst WRAP’s project schools in Israel and Palestine. Training of the school’s custodian on routine maintenance, while ensuring continued oversight by both WRAP and EcoPeace, is critical element of any WRAP project.
The Lenticular Secondary School for Girls is located in Al Adaseya, Jordan, an area with an average annual rainfall of only 380 mL. The Lenticular School is a public school serving 274 girls. To ensure the students have continued access to sanitary and properly functioning restrooms, WRAP proposes to construct a rainwater harvesting system. The system would collect rainwater from the roof of the school, divert it into a series of rain barrels, and pump it to the school’s toilets for flushing. The rain barrel system would greatly reduce 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 the possibility for summer classes and community gardening.
WRAP would be responsible for all facets of constructing the system and continued coordination with the school’s leadership and staff to implement the maintenance schedule and system monitoring. A trained, in-school educator would be responsible for implementing the project’s environmental curriculum. During the rainy season, this would include instructing the faculty and students on proper monitoring of the system and reporting of data on rainwater collection and use to WRAP. All labor and materials related to the construction, maintenance, and educational programming at the school would be employed through local providers.
Battir Girls School Safe Learning Garden, West Bank
Current condition of the courtyard and cement wall at the Battir Girls School
Located in the West Bank, and serving 120 Arab high school girls, Battir is the site of WRAP’s third project, a rainwater harvesting system consisting of an underground cistern and parallel environmental education program. Operational since July 2013, the system collects rainwater from the school’s roof, diverts and stores it within the cistern, and pumps it to the school’s restrooms where it is used for toilet flushing. The cistern is preventing the school from restroom closures due to its inadequate water supply, while opening up new opportunities for community gardening and summer school sessions that would otherwise not be feasible.
The Battir School is in dire need of securing and greening its courtyard, which serves as the location of WRAP’s underground cistern. A degraded cement wall currently surrounds the courtyard, while the interior is comprised of rock, dirt, and littered with nails, broken glass, and other debris. Securing the courtyard with a fence is essential to the girls’ safety and to prevent vandalism to the cistern so that the school has continued, reliable access to water. An enclosed courtyard area with plants, benches, and sectioning for gardens would ensure that the students have a place for outdoor classes, environmental education activities, and a safe and inviting space to extend their productive learning after school hours.
The school’s leadership and students have explicitly expressed a desire for this effort, and our partner organization, EcoPeace Middle East, is willing to provide the local support. Improving the space would have a great impact on the everyday quality of life for these students.
Specific activities WRAP would facilitate and continue to oversee include:
Improving the Safety of the Courtyard
• Clean up debris and excavate existing degraded concrete wall
• Conduct necessary landscaping to even the ground
• Install fence around the courtyard so that the space is safe for the students and prevents vandalism to the rainwater harvesting system and gardening area
Greening the Courtyard
• Acquire and plant native, drought-tolerant plants to green the area and make it an appealing space for students
• Provide information to teachers and students on the environmental benefits of these types of plants, especially how they continue to conserve precious water resources
• Install benches and other basic seating so that classes may be held outdoors and students have a safe area for continued learning after school hours
• Construct garden area where students may partake in communal gardening
