By Yasser Alhaj | Karama Director
After the blizzard, your support helped us get back on our roofs again!
Dear donor to our rooftop gardens project!
This short message is to let you know our appreciation of your support and to inform you of the progress made. Originally this project page was established to collect additional funding for three women who needed to create extra covering around their rooftop garden for the winter season. Soon after the first donations were given we did construct a greenhouse with two of the women, which allowed them to continue working on their roofs while the weather was turning colder. Karama showed you these results in the pictures uploaded on our Global Giving account and the women were frequently on their roofs, expecting harvest from green beans, lettuce, zuccini and tomatoes.
Halfway December however, Palestine was struck by a very heavy snow storm – something that took everybody by surprise and came as a change from the normal winter season. Three days of heavy snowfall and several days of cold wind and no electricity resulted in the complete destruction of most gardens. The green beans and zuccini plants that were growing up in the air supported by ropes, came down together with the construction that covered the tubes with plastic. Though many efforts were undertaken by the participants to save some of their work, only a few plants survived this storm.
After we informed you about this tragedy, you were so generous to support our project and help us get back on our roof! You funds have been used to place a stronger metal frame with 2 of the women involved and help others rearrange their garden again. Not all gardens have been replanted yet, due to lack of funds as well as hestitation with some women to start again while the weather is still cold. The plastic should provide enough protection during the winter, so it is our aim to help everybody plant again in the coming month. In that way the women will be able to overcome the loss from this winter and regain their confidence.
Seeing the harvest getting destroyed and starting from zero again is not easy. But the families showed resilience throughout the whole storm, that left most in the cold without electricity for several days. And with your help we can now already post you the pictures with the first sings of restoration! The women notice again that the soil will continue to provide and plants will start to grow again.. thus it is our aim to use these resources. Our roofs, soil and resilience are important assets that we should use for our community's benefit, no matter the setbacks we experience. This projects allows these women in Deheishe to practice their steadfastness and we look forward to their sure reward - the harvest and a positive incentive for their whole family.
Thank you for being part of this initiative!
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can recieve an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
