Post Ride Reflections

October 30, 2018

There have always been sight-seeing opportunities after the Ride.  A trip to Petra in Jordan is one highlight (think Raiders of the Lost Ark) - or extended stays in Eilat.  This year for the first time we had the opportunity to return to Kibbutz Ketura for a more in-depth exploration of the Arava Institute.  About a dozen of us have taken this option.  We have learned about edge cutting research being done in agriculture, with a group of professors and students doing long term research into developing crops that can be adapted to the hyper-arid climate of the Arava desert.   There is even if fig tree grown from a seed thousands of years old - aptly named the Methusala Tree.

There is ongoing study and development in solar power - the 4 megawatt solar field we saw two years ago has been joined by a 40 megawatt field that provides a third of Eilat’s power needs during the day.

And then there is the small scale, lower tech stuff aimed at improving the lives of the billion-plus people on this earth who live “off the grid,” without access to the basics that we take for granted - electricity, running water, waste-waster disposal. The Institute has developed an off-grid village, with operating examples of technology that is adaptable for these poor rural communities.  Together with partners in industry, they have developed portable solar powered units that run drip irrigation at a fraction of the cost and power needs of more traditional systems.  An inexpensive vacuum tube that functions as a high temperature oven, heated just by sunlight. 

A bio-gas generator that breaks down any organic matter into gas that can be used for heating and cooking.  It comes in a box and can be set up any where.

All of this work is incredibly important.  It has the potential to improve the lives the rich and poor alike, but mostly people from impoverished communities all over the world.  As important as the technical work is, however; equally vital is the study in the social science of ecology, negotiation and meditation, because the Institute is not just training scientists and technologists.  They are training leaders.  It is the mission of the Institute to foster cross-border environmental agreements , even the face of conflict, that will build the foundation of trust among nations that have long been enemies.  Part of the vision is that in 10 years, the ministers of the environment for Israel, Jordan and Palestine will all be graduates of the Arava Institute.  

I learned about the Track II initiative (check out www.arava.org/track-ii). Track II is a diplomatic term referring to non-governmental entities that work in any particular space of international affairs (Track I are the official diplomats).  So while Track I works at the official level (think UN or Oslo), there is always Track II activity going on to implement (and I suppose sometimes to circumvent) official agreements and positions.  The Arava Institute is very active with other Track II actors (NGO’s, donor organizations) all over the world, but particularly in the Middle East and Africa.  They are planning their second international Track II conference on the environment for next year.

This is what gives me hope.  Throughout this ride, in the midst of all the beauty, enthusiasm and energy, I have been troubled; worried that the work we were supporting existed only in a bubble of idealism; worried that the incremental approach of seeding the world of environmental technology with enlightened graduates of the Institute was merely “tilting at windmills” (certainly felt that way when we were riding against that sand storm!).  I wrote earlier about my sadness to learn that a young man I have come to know over the years, who had achieved the distinction of becoming the first Jordanian to earn a PhD in Israel could not find work in Jordan because of his degree - he is working in his family’s construction business.  But he does not despair. (and is recently married!)  I think he understands the slow arch of progress.  And I have come to better understand the role of quiet incremental change.  The enthusiasm among the staff and students for the work they are doing at all levels is infectious.  They truly believe they will change the world - and I think indeed they will.

And so I close this year’s ride feeling good (ok, I am little tired and I think I have a cold coming on).  This is not just a ride in a stunningly beautiful part of the world.  We are supporting exciting innovation through the research and development activity at the Institute, but perhaps more importantly, we are planting the seeds of cross border cooperation that is essential to the survival of our planet.  We are building trust.  We are creating hope. 

I plan to come back in 2020 for my 6th Ride.  I look forward to that time with prayers for health and peace.

Until then,

L’hitra-ot,

Lester

PS:  I hope to put together an album of photos from the Ride - mine and some more taken by the Ride photographers.  They had this cool new technology this year.  We all wore stickers or badges with a QR code that their video software can use to identify each of us in the photos.  So I can search for my number and find shots of me among the thousands they took.

PPS: The visit to Ketura was not all serious and meetings.  We took a walk a couple of miles across the road through the sands dunes to the Jordanian border - fun, but also a lesson in how arbitrary borders are when it comes to the environment.

And then there was the evening track into the desert with black lights to look for scorpions.