Sustainable By Design...

Sustainable design, design which reduces the possible negative effects on the environment as far as possible, is a phrase I hear daily from my clients. But I don’t think any of the engineers or architects I work with has ever had life in Sderot in mind when they were focusing on building a world which is renewable and resilient without leaving permanent scars.

Sderot is a city of 20,000 people situated approximately 2 miles from the Gaza strip. For the past eight years the residents of Sderot have lived on the forefront of the divide between Israel and her Palestinian neighbors. In the 8 ½ years since the first infantada began over 10,000 Gaza launched rockets have fallen on Sderot. That math alone is staggering, 1 rocket for every 2 people living there and they are still falling. The majority of these rockets are quassam rockets. As I learned today, quassam rockets are a deadly combination of politics and creativity. The rockets’ bodies are created from the very water pipes the people of Israel have helped provide to raise the living conditions of their neighbors, their propellant derived from fertilizer sent by humanitarian agencies to help feed the hungry in the territories. When fertilizer isn’t available laundry powder is used. Walking past the two weeks worth of collected detonated rockets collected at the police station is surreal. Each has been cataloged for the place it landed and the group who claimed responsibility for it. They are kept as evidence of the gruesome attacks Sderot is experiencing.

In Sderot life is measured in seconds, the few precious15 seconds between the time the Tzeva Adom (color red) warning sounds and the time the rockets start landing. Fifteen seconds to gather your loved ones and find a shelter, to jump from your car and lay flat in the dirt, to run to your safe room. Sderot residents live 15 seconds to 15 seconds. They go nowhere without a cell phone to check on the safety of their friends and families, they sleep in shelters and they close their schools when it is really bad. Really bad? There are rockets falling daily from the sky and it is only really bad on rare occasions?

This is the amazing part of life in Sderot, for all that is dropped on these residents daily, they are not packing up and running away. Many when given the chance have elected to stay, this is their home and they will not abandon it. They are also not letting it stop their lives. As was said by a pre-K care giver to us today“ we are helping build a routine in between the color reds”. They are making a normal existence in a situation that is anything but. And they are doing it with resolve and the most positive outlook I have experienced anywhere in the world. They are not victims and will not act like victims. They have redefined their lives using sustainable design!

Sustainable Sanity…

Our first stop in Sderot was to visit with Dr. Adrianna Katz, the director of the Anxiety Relief Site. A trauma center set up to address the mental issues created by living under continuing unrelenting stress. The Relief site is the first stop for individuals in acute distress. Here they are helped to cope in the moment and then are followed up with at the Resiliency Centers throughout the region. In addition to healing the existing wounds, these centers are developing programs and services to help fortitude the population for coping with this stress in the long run. They are helping the citizens develop the tools that will keep them moving forward no matter what the world throws at them.

These centers, originated with help from JAFI were started as private endeavors, but have been so successful that the government is helping implement them throughout the country. Dr. Katz and Dalia, the Director of the Sderot Resiliency Center share with us the impact of the war on the people they serve, the long term behavioral and developmental effects on children under 8 year olds who have never lived another reality. It is clear as they speak to us this is very personnel for them. As they not only serve the residents of Sderot, they also live there. An additional responsibility of the relief site is to provide support to the EMS, fire fighters and other professionals who cope with the rockets aftermaths day by day.

Sustainable Society…

There is very little about life in Sderot to make it desirable for the next generation to care about, to stay around for. But still they stay. Sderot, and partners such as JDC, are making life as normal as possible for as many teens as possible. One example is the “It’s a Deal: Café Yael” program where we ate lunch. This coffee house in the entertainment district of Sderot is a place for teens at risk to find their way back. The youth, age 15-18 who work at the café are not only given jobs, but also skills related to run their own businesses in the future. In addition to job skills weekly workshops are held to help the staff with the rest of their life. The program provides a second home for adolescents who may not feel safe in their own homes.

Thriving for the teens of Sderot is not all provided from the outside. They too are helping sustain themselves and their community. Sderot teens have learned to survive through song. The singing started as a way for the teens to “let out the poision” according to Avi Vaknin, a local musician, but it has turned into so much more. Sderot now turns out more musicians and records per capita than anywhere else on the planet. But the music is more than an industry, it is a way of coping. A way of expressing all the feelings associated with such a complicated life. The story of the Sderot musicians is one about to be told to the world by Laura Bialis, an American documentary film producer now living in Sderot. Laura is in the process of editing her next film, “Sderot, Rock in the Red Zone”. She welcomed us into her home today to share with us the trailer for the movie and discuss what lead her to Sderot. The trailer for her amazing movie can be found at http://sderotmovie.com/trl/TRAILER_LONG.wmv. This is a story that cannot be told to the world too soon, and Laura is doing her part to share Sderot.

Sustainable Safety…

Driving into Sderot it is hard to believe you are in a war zone. The area is green, lush, art is found on every corner. It looks nothing like what we see on the evening news. Our guide points out that this is also by design. There would be nothing harder for the morale of the people than to live amongst burned buildings crumbling from rocket strikes. Great care and high priority is placed on repairing damage as soon as possible after it happens. But repair is reactive and Sderot is not about waiting for the next attack. They are building proactively.

You wouldn’t notice it if you didn’t know what you are looking for, as the protection is very attractively designed into many structures. But every school, every playground, ever public place is being rebuilt with a cover or fortifications to neutralize the incoming bombs. Covers are built on buildings which are double layers, the first layer detonates the bomb before it can reach the civilians within the structure and the second structure stops the shrapnel and absorbs the shock.

Additionally bus stops, located every few feet have been redesigned to serve as shelters for those out in the open. These simple boxes save many live. But functional alone would never stand. Many of these shelters have been designed and painted by the artists in the area. What is a sad statement on the realities of life have been made bright, cheerful and seem to blend it quite naturally with the surroundings.

The citizens of Sderot have found within themselves a sustainability that few would expect. In situations where many of would feel helpless and victimized Sderot has used their own resources, in addition to reaching out to their international partners such as UJC, JDC, JAFI and partner communities around the globe to redesign their world in a spirit of resiliency and strength that will carry them far into the future, while still hoping that the future will look far different than what they are ready for.