Jemeel Mubarak Mousa with his newly repaired well
There is a new spirit of energy in the orchard, mountain gardens of Sinai. Everywhere you walk now in the wadis there are Bedouin working, mending their walls, planting vegetables, digging places for new trees or repairing their wells.
The recent rains have helped - two good downpours one in January and one in February which filled the small dams the Makhad Trust have built. This rainfall after 5 years of drought is regarded as a gift from God which should not be wasted.
But the return to the gardens had begun well before the rains. Dr Ahmed, an internationally respected herbal doctor told us that the Makhad Trust has been responsible. With our sponsors help we have repaired and deepened 36 wells and built 8 dams. Garden owners have seen what their neighbours have achieved with a little help from us and have collected funds from family and friends to repair their own wells and renovate their gardens. Their hearts belong to the gardens where they were born and which have been in their families for generations.
“I have worked all my life in my garden, now I am happy again because I have water and can look after my garden for my children just as my Father and Grandfather did before me.” Jemeel Mubarak Mousa
Amria’s Dam - Wadi Zuwetein
We have just heard exciting news from Sinai that after heavy rainfall in Egypt on the 17th January the dams that the Makhad Trust has constructed are now full of water. Our Sinai Manager, Mahmoud Ahmed tells us that all the people in Sinai are happy!
It has not rained properly for 5 years and the land was parched with gardens dying. Last year in February there was a little snow but no rain - only the higher dams collected water.
Rain is so fierce when it comes and the ground hard so that much of the water is lost as it rushes down the wadis out to sea. But our small dams hold up the water so that it can filter down to the water table and in time all the hundreds of wells in the gardens will fill. In addition the water collects silt containing minerals and seeds which will be distributed. Not only will all the orchard trees benefit but new herbs and plants will grow also turning the landscape green.
News of the rainfall has given our supporters who collected funds and constructed the dams great pleasure and no doubt it will give them renewed enthusiasm to construct more dams this year.
A great start to 2010!
Gathering of the 3 Bedouin Tribes, Nawamis, 2nd December 2009
An historic gathering of the 7 tribes of Sinai is planned for 21st November 2010. There has not been such a meeting since 1986 and the Bedouin are excited at the prospect of being able to meet together under one symbolic tent and discuss the way they can co-operate and protect their traditions and culture.
At a preliminary meeting of 3 tribes at the Nawamis site, with more than 85 people and 3 important sheikhs on the 2nd December 2009, speakers expressed their delight at the prospect of being able to meet together at Nawamis, the geographical centre of all the tribes. Sheikh Ahmed of the Jebelia mountain tribe said ” I have dreamed of this all my life”.
In addition to being a geographical centre Nawamis is also an important place to all three religions. It lies on an ancient pilgrimage route to Mount Sinai at St Katherines, to Jerusalem and to Mecca.
The Nawamis Centre has been designed in accordance with Bedouin culture. The shadoof (a traditional device for raising water) will be constructed to hold up the large festival tent, and in the centre will be the fire. These symbols of life for the Bedouin, water, fire and the tent were quickly recognised and commented on by the speakers.
Our Makhad Trust group who had been building Sala’s small dam in the mountains mixed with Bedouin who had come many miles from the mountains and desert, sent by their friends, to hear the news about Nawamis and the 7-Tribe gathering.
Sheikh Sala of the Awlad Said tribe said “We appreciate this gathering which is making history. A very big thank you for making the meeting of the 7 tribes into a reality and a base for the tribes to meet in Sinai.”
The Makhad Trust is proud to be involved in such a significant cultural development.
Lees Met University have done it again! A sponsored abseil raised funds for the Nawamis School Complex and 15 students and staff came out to Sinai to work on the project.
The main school and visitor centre buildings have been completed so the staff and students worked on the semi-circular camel station which also forms a barrier in the event of a flood. The inside of the camel station will provide open archway rooms for visitors to relax in before taking a camel ride to visit the Nawamis burial chambers, or explore the desert.
Some of the students gathered rocks from other parts of the desert, while others mixed cement or helped to dig the trench. Two of the engineering students helped a structural engineer to measure sections of the tent area ready for calculations and drawings of the tent support beams.
Leeds Met University have a policy of encouraging voluntary support and this is the second group they have sent out this year. Their contribution has been a prime factor in ensuring that Nawamis will be ready for the raising of the tent in November. Thank you Leeds Met from us all.
On December 2nd 2009 the Makhad Trust friends and supporters will gather at Nawamis in the South Sinai desert for a celebratory party to raise the largest ever woven Bedouin Tent.
This tent will become a unique venue for local camel festivals, parties and visitors. It will raise the economy of the Nawamis settlement and help the villagers to support their new school.
And so the work is underway. The younger women who take their goats out every day into the desert and mountains to find pasture are gathering in the wool. Others are spinning and weaving in their homes on hand looms in the traditional way, reviving an ancient skill. It takes 21 goats to provide enough wool for 1 sq m of woven tent!. When all is ready the women will gather on site, sew the strips together and the tent will be born.
Totally natural and practical the Bedouin tent has been used for hundreds of years. It is the centre of the community, providing shelter and hospitality.
The raising of the tent is the initial stage towards the completion of this exciting project. We very much appreciate the practical and financial help from many of our supporters. We do hope that you will join us to mark this significant event. If you would like to come then call Karan on 01242 544 546.
