Planting seeds of independence

Forty-five-year-old widow Sara Zo'rob holds chickens she received from the Save Gaza gardening project at the training hall in the Rural Women Development Society, Kerbet al-Adas village, southern Gaza Strip, October 2007. (Iyad Albaba)

Rami Almeghari, The Electronic Intifada, 15.10.07. A domestic gardening project in the Gaza Strip city of Rafah has been a part of the US-based Save Gaza program, is intended to empower poor women in the rural and remote areas of the Gaza Strip. In the furthest eastern location of Rafah city, an area called Kherbet al-Adas, a local public service facility for rural development has been designated for the training of 20 Palestinian women representing 20 different families. Chickens and small plants are some of the items provided by Save Gaza for the participants with the hope that the women can create their own domestic gardens and become independent of "Israeli-controlled products and goods." "Now ... hopefully with these gardens the women can have some of their own vegetables, but also can trade with their neighbors, so we are also building community relations and mobilizing them to move towards sovereignty and sustainability and not have to rely on Israel for anything," says Yassmin. Participants have found the project beneficial as most come from poor families or live alone as widows or divorcees. The project ensures that local Palestinian women, who have uniquely suffered the hardships of the four-decades-long Israeli occupation in Gaza, are being active by taking part in the training. Currently, 81 percent of Gazans are living below the poverty line and more than half of the population rely on foreign aid for such basic needs as flour, rice, and sugar. Most in Gaza come from farming backgrounds and the desire to care for the land is something they still carry with them from when their families tended land in historic Palestine. After the dispossessed of historic Palestine with the creation of the state of Israel, the Gaza labor force became subservient to the Israeli economy. Save Gaza aims to bring Palestinians back to their roots and allow these women to rise above Israel's economic occupation.

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Save Gaza is ready to launch its first Home Gardening Project. 30 families have been identified for training in methods of sustainable gardening including composting and water conservation. Each family has a space to garden and will have access to water, seedlings, and small plants to begin the planting. All resources have been identified however implementation has come to a halt due to a lack of funding.

$3,000 is urgently needed in the coming weeks in order to provide the training seminars and for the purchase of chickens and vegetable plants. Each family will receive 5 chickens and several different vegetable plants to jump start their home gardens for greater success and sustainability.