Duma – We visited the Dawabshe family.  Hussein in his tiny store which he opened in order to make a living (denied entry into Israel).  He is having a hard time in this at his new “profession”.  The people who come to buy from his sparse stock, “register” their purchases and end up owing him thousands of shekels.

Water problems:  They receive water from Mekorot.  There are frequent and unpredictable shortages of water; sometimes there is no water for days at a time.  In emergencies, they draw water from wells which they fill when there is a steady stream of water.  Those who do not have wells are helped out by their families.

Olive harvest:  We suggested coming to the harvesting, and he answered that it is supposed to be a poor harvest this year.  He showed us his lands.  He thinks the harvest will begin earlier than usual because of the heat waves.  One of us bought a few things from him.  We also brought him clothes in good condition with the idea of selling them.  We’ll see if that works;  if so, we’ll bring more.

We also met the grandson, Ahmad, when he returned from school.  He is in third grade and is already nine years old.

Samara, Jordan Valley:  There are a number of encampments in the area of Samara.  Our object was to get to the encampment of Yassar, that is, the two Yassar’s whom we accompanied to Ichilov Hospital.  Guy Hircefeld explained to Nurit that you need to count 3 tents and the third one belongs to Yassar.  We counted.

The older Yassar is the grandfather and the smaller Yassar is his grandson, three and a half years old.  Half a year ago, an unidentified bullet flew into their tent where the grandson was sleeping and entered his skull.  Prof. Constantini at Ichilov Hospital saw him and said that the bullet would never be a problem for him.  And indeed, the boy is bashful like children his age, but appears to be fine.  The poverty of the area is known to us from the reports of other shifts.  Before we set out, I asked him what clothes they needed and he replied:  Everything.  We brought clothes and sweets.  The grandfather has a large flock of sheep and he also complained about the vandalism of the settlers.  He is used to it.