Medical pair spends vacation sharing expertise in Israel's desert

 (L-R) Central Arava Resource Development Associate Samatha Levy,
 nurse Annette Vaccaro, Dr. Dana Sless, and JNF Central Arava liaison Noa Zer,
 following a lecture on early childhood development.

While many would choose to use their vacation time to go to Europe or lounge on a beach, one medical duo decided to head to Israel's desert and give back.

Dr. Dana Sless, who specializes in pediatric and adolescent health care in Atlantic City, NJ, and nurse Annette Vaccaro, based in Troy, NY, went deep in the heart of the sandy Central Arava, a region that sits between the Dead Sea and Eilat along the Jordanian border and is home to some 8,700 people. They spent a week giving lectures and seminars at Jewish National Fund's Danielle A. and Irving J. Grossman Arava Medical Center.

Under the acacia tree: Celebrating a rite of passage in Israel's Arava

Photo: Tamir Eytan

The bat mitzvah girl, Alexia, in the Central Arava.

By Barbara Bader

In 2013, my husband Abe and I were talking about taking our first trip to Israel. He remembered, as a child, collecting donations for Jewish National Fund, using the blue box. I did some research, called our Long Island, N.Y. branch of JNF, and thus began our relationship. During that trip, on the Spirit of Israel Mission in April 2014, we visited the usual amazing places: the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the modern city of Tel Aviv, the beautiful Galilee. As wonderful as this was, nothing pulled at our heartstrings the way our visit to the Arava region did!

In the JNF Kitchen: King oyster mushroom pasta

Meet Esti and Uri Yaakobi of mushroom company פטריות פארן (Mushrooms of Paran). They are farmers from the Paran moshav in the Arava desert who decided to grow mushrooms, of all things! 

Their mushrooms are pure Israeli and a result of their entrepreneurial spirit, desire to produce something unique, and passion for farm-to-table dining. Among their mushrooms you'll find oyster, shiitake, king oyster, and lion mains, and you can also find dishes with their products at אורסולה בית קפה בערבה (Ursala Coffee and Pub in the Arava).

Enjoy this #RecipeOfTheWeek for king oyster mushroom pasta inspired by the Yaakobis and their interesting crops. If you make any of these recipes, be sure to send a photo of your creation to teddyherzl18@gmail.com or tweet it to @JNFUSA with the hashtag #JNFfoodie. We might share it! 

My Arava Story: Israel gives Nigerian farmer tools to fight food crisis

We're focusing on stories from the beautiful Arava, Israel's southern desert. Residents of the Central Arava face many challenges, including the harsh climate, large distance between communities, and lack of accessibility to resources available in urban centers. JNF has partnered with the Central Arava Regional Council as part of our Blueprint Negev campaign to make the Negev habitable to the next generation of Israel's residents. 

Here, reflections from a pupil at the Arava International Center for Agriculture and Training (AICAT), where students from around the world learn advanced agricultural practices they then take back to their home countries.   

By Endurance P. Ojo

My interest in agriculture isn't necessarily a story of passion since childhood. Rather, it stems from my experience with my father on his farm in Nigeria and my continuous study in a quest to increase crop productivity there. Also, I look to a Science Daily article published in April 2014 featuring a statement by Professor Fred Davies (a senior adviser to the USAID at that time) on the relationship between agriculture and increasing world population. That article changed my life forever. 

My Arava Story: Myanmar farmer finds career, and love, in the desert

Htawshae Lum Hkawng in his element. He credits his time studying at AICAT in Israel with giving him 
the tools for farming success. 

We're taking time to focus on stories from the beautiful Arava, Israel's southern desert. Residents of the Central Arava face many challenges, including the harsh climate, large distance between communities, and lack of accessibility to resources available in urban centers. JNF has partnered with the Central Arava Regional Council as part of our Blueprint Negev campaign to make the Negev habitable to the next generation of Israel's residents. 

By Htawshae Lum Hkawng

I am from Myanmar. From 2011-2012 I came to Israel and studied in the agriculture diploma program at AICAT (Arava International Center for Agriculture Training). It was a truly amazing experience. I learned how to farm from square one: planting, pruning, feeding, sterilizing, irrigating, and cleaning until harvesting; packaging, cleaning, and maintaining the farm under the greenhouses and net houses. The program's model of combining classroom theory with practical work on the farm has given me the tools I need to go on and become a successful farmer.

My Arava Story: A Kenyan agriculture student's 'extraordinary' new life

We're taking time to focus on the beauty of the Arava, Israel's southern desert. Residents of the Central Arava face many challenges, including the harsh climate, large distance between communities, and lack of accessibility to resources available in urban centers. JNF has partnered with the Central Arava Regional Council as part of our Blueprint Negev campaign to make the Negev habitable to the next generation of Israel's residents. 

Here, a personal narrative from a Kenyan student at the Arava International Center for Agriculture and Training (AICAT). He details the surprises and pleasures of his new life in Israel's south.

By Kenneth Kiplang'at Chepkwony

I recently graduated from the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) in Kenya, and I'm currently pursuing a postgraduate diploma at the Arava International Center for Agriculture and Training. I came to Israel in August 2016 as one of the beneficiaries of an internship program that has seen the admission of 100 Kenyan students at AICAT. The objective is to expose individuals like me to the sophisticated agricultural technologies attached to the Arava. I hail from an agricultural family that relies solely on natural rainfall. Sadly, such traditional approaches have hindered local communities from growing food sufficiently. This inspired me to apply to AICAT. I have a deep desire to apply the knowledge I will amass in the Arava to influence my country folk positively.

In the JNF Kitchen: Cauliflower latkes from the Arava

All latked out yet? We have the perfect antidote -- cauliflower latkes from the Central Arava Regional Council. The Arava is a key focus of JNF's Blueprint Negev initiative, which aims to bring communities to Israel's south, away from the congested, highly priced center of the country.

The Central Arava is a wonderful place to visit, live, raise a family -- and run a farm! What residents in the area lack in natural resources, they make up for in ingenious agricultural solutions. All year round, the tastiest peppers, artichokes, melons, and cucumbers come out of the Central Arava.

In the JNF kitchen: Colorful salad featuring flavors of the Arava desert

The magic that is life in the Arava desert: One family's story

Tania with her husband and son. 

Residents of the Central Arava face many challenges, including the harsh desert climate, the large distance between communities, and the lack of accessibility to resources available in urban centers. JNF has partnered with the Central Arava Regional Council as part of our Blueprint Negev campaign to make the Negev habitable to the next generation of Israel's residents.

Here, a personal story from Tania Pons-Allon, who works for the Central Arava Regional Council. The council's jurisdiction covers more than 370,000 acres -- approximately 6 percent of Israel’s total land mass -- but is inhabited by just 3,300 people scattered throughout seven communities. 

By Tania Pons-Allon

It was summer, and we packed our small Tel Aviv apartment into a moving van and drove south. I was caressing a nine-month-pregnant belly as my husband drove fast in atypical speed for route No. 6, while sirens went off on the radio every couple of songs. The decision was clear to us both. After 10 years in the center of Israel, we were returning home. We are both Arava natives, and we always knew we wanted our children to grow up like we did: with a sense of freedom, tranquility, and simplicity.

In the JNF Kitchen: Baked pita bread with lentils and feta

Photo: Etiel Zion

Pita is the quintessential Israeli bread, but it usually plays a supporting role to other dishes.This #RecipeOfTheWeek, Baked pita bread with lentils and feta gives pita bread a leading role.

This inventive recipe -- akin to pita lasagna -- is another delicious creation brought to us by Noa Zer. Noa, who lives in Moshav Paran in the Central Arava, heads the Resource Development Department at the Central Arava Regional Council, where she is responsible for fundraising as well as foreign affairs and connections to Jewish communities in the Diaspora.

Noa is married to a second-generation farmer from Paran and together they are starting their second agricultural season as pepper growers. The Central Arava is a key region– a focus of JNF’s Blueprint Negev initiative.

In the JNF Kitchen: Crispy potato and sage salad

This #RecipeOfTheWeek comes from Noa Zer. Noa was born and raised in the suburbs of Tel Aviv and moved to Moshav Paran in the Central Arava desert in 2011. She heads the resource development department at the Central Arava Regional Council, where she is responsible for fundraising as well as foreign affairs and connections to Jewish communities in the Diaspora. 

Noa is married to a second-generation farmer from Paran, and together they are starting their second agricultural season as pepper growers. The Central Arava, a region characterized by sharp climate changes, extreme topographical conditions, scarce water, and dramatic natural beauty is a key focus of JNF's Blueprint Negev initiative.

Modern miracle #PoweredByJNF: Advanced agricultural know-how farmed to the developing world

Along the Jordanian border, in the Central Arava desert, a modern miracle is taking place. With less than one inch of annual rainfall and multiple other challenges, the Arava farmers have been able to make the impossible possible and make the desert bloom. Roughly 550 farming families of the Central Arava produce 60 percent of Israel’s fresh vegetable exports and 10 percent of its cut-flower imports. The region is a world leader in advanced desert agriculture and a prime example of effective water use. 

But the miracle isn't only benefiting Israel; it's also impacting people in developing countries. Twenty years ago the Arava farmers took it upon themselves to share their  knowledge  and experience with the world. This was the beginning of the Arava International Center for Agriculture Training, or AICAT. Today the program has changed the lives of over 8,000 graduates from Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, Tibet, Ethiopia, Liberia, Nigeria, and South Sudan. 

The Arava desert: Land of goat milk and honey

Photo: Kayema Farm

Kayema Farm in the Central Arava desert produces more than 20 varieties of boutique French-style goat cheeses.

By Darryl Egnal 

Ran Porat is a rule breaker. When someone tells him something can’t be done, he sets out to prove the opposite.

When he decided he wanted to make honey in the desert, people laughed. When he said he wanted to breed bees in the Arava -- the driest, hottest part of the Negev -- they told him he'd never make it. He disagreed. He was young, straight out of the army, and he set out to show everyone how wrong they were. Today, the Porat Apiary is a successful family-run business with thousands of productive beehives throughout the Negev and is renowned across Israel for its unusual honey flavors.

Not far from the Porat Apiary is the Kayema Farm, a place rich with the flow of milk -- goats' milk. An unusual choice for the Arava, the decision has been enormously successful. After seven years of competing with the rest of the fruit and vegetable farmers in the Central Arava, the Ofaimme family decided to try something new and different. So they brought 20 Alpine goats to Israel and acclimatized them to the desert heat. The goats have been thriving in the area for the past seven years and their milk produces special cheeses and many flavored fruit yogurts.