Grantee

Afaq–Almothalat – Association for Research and Development (Taibe)

Goals
To improve the situation in Taibe, a town in the Triangle region, especially education and the environment, with a focus on health hazards.

Background
Taibe, with a population of approximately 32,000, Has the limited budget and shortage of professional personnel that all Arab localities in Israel suffer. Afaq al-Mothalat was established in early 2002 by a group of university graduates living in the town, with the goal of improving the situation with the emphasis on education and the environment.

Strategies
Action to raise residents' consciousness and empower them; advocacy directed at the local authority and relevant government agencies; and establishing forums of professionals in various fields and integrating them into its activities.

Highlights

• Following protracted pressure from the organization, the Environment Ministry decided to open a unit in town.In response to action by the organization, the Postal Authority renovated and expanded the local post office and announced its willingness to open a second branch.
• Sponsored a symposium on improving the situation of blind people in Arab society and the need for textbooks in Braille. Assisting with the establishment of a nonprofit organization to work on the issue.
• Helped the parents of children attending a local kindergarten renovate the building.
• Collaborating with the municipality, produced a series of lectures on the preservation of old buildings in the town and sponsored a course to train engineers about preservation.
• Founded a new organization to address the problem of elderly persons being neglected by their families.
• Continuing work on a number of environmental issues: closing the garbage dump west of the town, restoring the site of the old municipal garbage dump, promoting a plastic-recycling project and producing a curriculum on the environment for use in local schools  town (the initiative of a local resident who contacted the organization for help.