CRS Housing Project Gives New Hope to Herders

September 16, 2006 — A few yards from the clean-swept front porch of Abdullah Issa Khdour, the open mouth of a large cave yawns from the desert soil. Inside, the young sheep of Abdullah's flock nurse from their mothers, and a white cat sleeps atop a nearby hay bale. You would never know that for 13 years, this desert cave was home for the Khdour family.

For Abdullah, who grew up living the nomadic life of a herder near the southern West Bank town of Hebron, life amid his goats and sheep was a part of his earliest memories.

"I lived in the cave and in a tent. It suits my life," Abdullah says. "When I was a little boy I used to live like this."

But life today is less idyllic than it once was. Overgrazing of the limited local vegetation has made the land here less fertile. Though he has a house in the nearby town of Bani Naim, Abdullah found it increasingly hard to look after his flocks, and had to move constantly in search of grass. There was no room for the animals in the town. After using the cave as a seasonal shelter for years, Abdullah and most of his family — numbering 16 members — moved out to the site in 1992.

"It was difficult because I have a big family," Abdullah says. "And there was only a short bit of grass for my sheep because there was no water."

Though used to the hardships of life as a nomad, Abdullah says that living with his family in the cave and a nearby tent was hard. While the family largely depended on rain for their drinking water, the same storms that relieved thirst also dampened the cave. With no nearby access to health care, the children suffered frequent illnesses, and the family survived only through the milk and cheese products they could sell. A permanent home seemed an impossibility.

"It was difficult because we were a big family living in a small area," Abdullah says. "In the winter, the rain came in."

Building Blocks

That changed when Catholic Relief Services approached a local partner near Hebron in 2003 seeking to set up programs exchanging food for labor on the infrastructure in the area. Knowing the housing needs that existed, the partner suggested an alternative project aimed at providing food and materials to local residents so they could build homes. Through the project, CRS had local beneficiaries produce concrete blocks. In return, the workers received food provided by the World Food Program. Using those blocks, the beneficiaries worked together to build their own homes, complete with zinc roofing materials and electricity. Within three years, 240 homes had been built through the project.

"It was a big help — it was precious," Abdullah says of the project. "I cannot explain it in words."

Today, Abdullah and his family live in their small concrete house, and use the cave where they once lived as a storage area for food. His children now have access to a nearby clinic built by CRS as part of the same project. It is still a simple life, as Khdour explains, and he must buy hay to feed his sheep during most of the year. When the rains don't come, he also spends what little money he has to purchase water for his flock and his family. But his new home has provided Abdullah and his family with a chance to remain where they have traditionally lived — in the open spaces of the southern West Bank, tending their goats and sheep.

"[This house] was like the stick you throw to me when I am drowning," Abdullah says. "This project brings new life."