"She named him Joseph, saying, may God add another son for me." (Exodus 30:24)
Today we met a young woman who is studying at Ben Gurion University of the Negev. She comes from a Bedouin village and convinced her parents to support her higher education only by promising to cover her head and keep away from boys. She has overcome culture shock and language barriers in this new environment that has also made her acutely aware of her own disadvantage; but she is intelligent, confident and determined to get good education. When she graduates she will return to her village and face the challenge of bridging the two worlds. She will have to decide which traditional norms to confront and which to accept in return for continued freedom to work and study. Pursuing a love match or a foreign opportunity would entail her being cut off entirely so she will agree to enter into an arranged marriage and try to juggle a local career with the culturally-expected role of mother to a large family.
During this second day of the UK Task Force Study Trip, we explored social issues and social provision within the Bedouin communities of the Negev. A panel of healthcare specialists highlighted the high instance of genetic disorders caused by a 50% rate of consanguineous marriages and explained the problems with access to healthcare in the unrecognised villages. Amny Athamne of Health Care for Mothers and Infants described ways that health promotion initiatives are improving attitudes towards healthcare in the Bedouin community. Some panel members also expressed the view that most problems in the Bedouin community stem from Bedouin culture itself and that change has to come from within.
