שתיל - שירותי תמיכה וייעוץ לקידום שינוי חברתי

In Israel's Negev dessert, a group of women who work in agriculture are being informed of their rights for the first time. The initiative came from Amal ElNasasra after she participated in Bedouin Women for our Rights, a Shatil training course for young Bedouin women with leadership potential. Amal was inspired by what she learned to reach out to what might be most oppressed group in Israel - black Bedouin women farm workers. In the four meetings they've held so far, a dozen women have learned what a salary slip is (they don't get one); that there are laws prescribing minimUmm wage and the nUmmber of work hours (they generally work from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m.) that their employer must give them protective equipment when they work with pesticides (they don't even get gloves.) The women come from the poorest neighborhood in the Negev Bedouin town of Rahat and are often their families' only wage earner. They say they are getting a golden opportunity to learn about rights they had no idea existed.

Hundreds of activists from around the country participated in other Shatil courses this fall, including a course in constructive conflict for social workers involved with Palestinian-Israeli families in the Triangle who are struggling to be reunited; a workshop for environmental activists on promoting green budgets in local councils; Management in a Multi-Cultural Society; a professional course for fund raisers in the South in cooperation with Sapir Academic College in Sderot and many others.