Who we are:

The Volunteer Center (The Tent) is an AJEEC division, founded in 2002 with the goal of strengthening community responsibility and active citizenship in the Arab society in Israel and in the Arab Bedouin society of the Negev, in particular. The Tent works toward this goal through the development of a volunteerism framework by and for the community.

What we do:

Located in Beersheva’s old city neighborhood, the Tent recruits, organizes and trains Arab and Jewish volunteers in the Negev (youth, college students, adults) for engagement in diverse volunteering frameworks. The volunteers are engaged in educational institutions, third sector organizations, community institutions and a diverse group of other agencies in need of volunteering for the benefit of the community. Today, most of the activities focus on the Arab Bedouin community of the Negev and a few programs address the Jewish community of the Negev.

How we do what we do:

For nearly a decade, select groups of idealistic Arab Bedouin and Jewish high school graduates have chosen to take the road less traveled and to embark on an ambitious journey, together.

Postponing future educational and career aspirations, they dedicate one year to implementing joint volunteering projects in the Arab Bedouin and Jewish communities of Beersheba and the Negev, together.

They learn about volunteerism, social activism, human and civil rights and about the colorful cultural, national and religious mosaic that characterizes our society. They work with Arab Bedouin and Jewish schoolchildren. By precept and example, they teach, they empower and they become empowered, together.

They carry out their work in times of relative quiet, in times of escalated conflict and in times of war. Their struggle to find the common ground, to practice tolerance and empathy, to respect the other and to celebrate multiculturalism is a reflection of the crucial challenges that face our society.

Program Highlights:

• Develops the leaders of tomorrow
• Promotes real and meaningful Arab – Jewish partnerships among the generation coming of age
• Provides young people a unique opportunity for self-discovery and self-awareness
• Advances the schoolchildren most at risk through mentoring, role modeling and enrichment activities

Program Elements:

Mixed Arab Jewish volunteer teams work in schools and community centers:

► Tutoring at-risk children in Arab Bedouin primary schools and conducting civics workshops devoted to issues such as violence, prejudice, human rights and positive civic action

► Teaching spoken Arabic and familiarizing children with Arab Bedouin culture in selected Jewish primary schools in Beersheba

► Implementing after-school enrichment programs for at risk Arab Bedouin children and youth. Activities include sports, drama, arts and crafts and other special interests, homework and study labs, social activities and scouting

TALIYAH (Arabic for "pioneering") is a unique community volunteer program, the first of its kind in Israel, developed by NISPED- AJEEC's Arab Bedouin Community Volunteer Center in 2004. This full-time, comprehensive gap year volunteerism program for young Arab-Bedouin women enables them to shape their own futures and that of their communities by providing practical skills, leadership training, and a firm belief in their innate ability to determine their personal life-course and to effect real social change in the Arab-Bedouin community of the Negev.

 To date, TALIYAH has changed the lives of more than 100 young Arab Bedouin women participants and thousands of Arab Bedouin girls who have benefited from the participants' volunteer activities and role modeling. Seven years of experience has demonstrated that this program has the potential to dramatically alter the fates of the generation of young Arab Bedouin women and girls currently coming of age.

Program Highlights:

·         Promotes the social, economic and political empowerment of Arab Bedouin girls and young women through volunteerism, role modeling, skill attainment and civil society building.

·         Advances Arab Israeli society in general and Arab Bedouin society, in particular through the recruitment and deployment as young women volunteers, drawn from the community itself, in activities serving the needs of the community in general and the community's 'children at risk' in particular.

·         Facilitates an evolving model system of community-focused young women's volunteerism based on the TALIYAH concept of the individual contributing her time and talents to the advancement of the community’s welfare and progress.

·         Develops and conducts a program of educational and social enrichment for primary school 'children at risk' in the target communities, aimed at improving their scholastic performance, self-image and social functioning – the volunteers are positive role models.

·         Fosters the development of a cadre of educated and dedicated young women community leaders.

Program Impact

·         Approximately 70% of graduates continue to post-secondary education (as compared to 10-15% of Arab Bedouin girls who do not participate)

·         Later marriage – Arab Bedouin girls traditionally marry early and forego educational and employment opportunities.

·         PSE institutes such as the Negev College report that program graduates are significantly more motivated and successful than their counterparts.

·         Graduates as well as the children who benefit from their volunteerism activities display higher self-esteem and self-confidence. It may be assumed that TALIYAH program graduates will enter into different kinds of domestic relationships and raise their children differently than others who have not had the opportunity to participate in this program.

Program Elements:

The program works five days per week as follows

► Two days a week are dedicated to volunteering in elementary schools including Arabic and math tutoring, running after school enrichment activities such as sport, Debka, computers and art

► One day a week the volunteers help Arab Bedouin clients of government services such as the National Insurance Institute, child development centers, Soroka University Medical Center, Beterem NGO (accident prevention), Beit Maagan (cancer support center)

► One day a week is in-service training and includes topics such as active citizenship, planning for the future, developing social initiatives and informal education

Arab Bedouin university and college students from all the institutes of higher education in the region participate in the NISPED-AJEEC Student Volunteer Community Involvement Project. Research indicates that students involved in community work do better in college and the project beneficiaries, the children and youth they work with, view the student volunteers as role models.

Program Elements and Highlights:

• College students volunteer in diverse social and community projects and receive scholarships

• Students volunteer in projects emphasizing non-violent communication, academic tutoring, youth empowerment projects, and high school matriculation preparation

• More than 200 Arab Bedouin students participate each year

Young Leaders for Change facilitates Arab Bedouin high school students in assuming proactive roles with regard to community development and the building of civil society through social entrepreneurship including significant involvement at the local and regional levels.

Program Highlights:

• Fosters the development of a cadre of educated, socially and civically aware Arab Bedouin youth committed to the advancement of their communities’ welfare and development

• Provides Arab Bedouin youth with practical opportunities to experience democracy in action, to participate in public service and volunteerism, to contribute to improving the welfare of their local communities and to serve as role models for their peers

• Involves 350 9^th, 10^th and 11^th grade Arab high school students and impacts on some 2,000 of their peers and the community at large

• Ashoka, the global association of the world's leading social entrepreneurs, is an active partner providing professional consulting to and networking to first sector project planning know how (via Microsoft Israel)

Program Elements:

► Year-long seminar about rights and entitlements, volunteerism, social activism, community development and civil society building

► Development and Implementation of community development projects (by each group of 15-20 youth)aimed at raising awareness and encouraging community involvement and volunteerism among their peers, the various municipalities and the community-at-large