Nov, 2008
Sandor and Faye Straus, the founders of the Firedoll Foundation, have a passion for community development, human rights and environmental conservation.
Last year, they identified a perfect match with Anera when they heard of a project to clean up the farmland of northern Gaza.
Their $20,000 grant has made it possible for Anera to employ 31 workers and help revitalize an area of land polluted by plastic mulch and plastic greenhouse covers. Removing all of the waste was essential to future cultivation of the land. It also served as a perfect alternative to the farmers who, with very few options, would normally burn all of the waste, polluting the air with a suffocating scent. Instead, the waste was collected and taken to a recycling unit to be reconstituted into bags and irrigation pipes.
Ihab Abed Azeez, agricultural engineer and coordinator of the project said, “As far as I know, this is the first project of its kind to be implemented in northern Gaza. It is a win-win situation for everyone: the farmers have clean farms, the environment is improved, and many hours of work are created for people who really need it.”
