Our project is aimed to aid the community of the unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev desert of Israel, a community dealing with both the though conditions of the desert and a complex process of change. (For more information and a deeper understanding of their situation, please see a summery in the supplementary files.)
Preparing to this challenge, we collected data from:
• The headmaster and the educational coordinator of 'El Amal' primary school in the unrecognized Khirbet Waatan Bedouin village.
• Volunteers from AJEEC working in the school and other educational frames in the Negev.
• Pupils of the school, from different classes and age groups.
• Academic and governmental researches regarding the education state of the Bedouins.

Our conclusion is that the argent need of this community is to reach places that the 'normal school' can not: youth that dropped from schools, girls that are kept at home, adults that only now are able to study, children living too far from school to attend any after- school time activities and have no other informal education frame after school ends at 13:00.

Due to the nature of the area and the lifestyle, it became obvious that mobile solution is needed. This kind
of solution will also avoid the sensitive issue of permanent construction in the geopolitical dispute surrounding the unrecognized villages.

We looked for the simplest, cheapest option, which will also be durable in desert environment and will require low-maintenance. We choose to use second- hand standard 6mx2.5m shipping containers. The interior modifications, from laminated boards, will be done as a part of a workshop for dropped-out youth that will provide them practical education. This mobile class, Oasis, will be equipped with high- level educational tools that those children can not meet at the local school, including computers, internet, projectors, scanners, small library, mind games etc.
Solar panels on the roof will supply some of the electricity, backed-up by portable generator. A balloon caring antenna will signal the location of Oasis for those who herd in the surrounding.
In the option developed and detailed here, the main stairs of Oasis have three positions, creating (at least) three different study environments, from the very intimate one-on-one and a relaxed library area to the auditorium-like class for bigger gatherings. More situations can be created by combining two or more Oasis. Using standard containers, it is possible to create Oasis classes with different interior arrangement for different needs, such as workshops, daycares etc.

We hope that this design, together with the passion of the young volunteers of AJEEC and the professional support of Amitim Banegev, our colleagues for this entry, we will be able to make some change for the children of the Bedouin unrecognized villages.

Please check our pupils' and volonteers' participation clip at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPFyd2psWkc
enjoy and help us help them!

Location