Kibbutz Ketura and the Arava Region: An Overview

Shalom! My room is unpacked, my classes picked, and my first load of laundry is piling up in my closet, and so I figured it was about time to give a more in-depth picture of the program here at AIES and its location in the world.  As some readers of this travel blog already may know, the Arava Institute of Environmental Studies is a program which uses the environment as a bridge between cultures and individuals in conflict.  Students take a full semester of credits as well as participate in a “Peace-building and Environmental Leadership Seminar”, or PELS.  This entire course of study, including classes, living arrangements, and activities, is designed to help the participants learn how to be peace-builders and leaders in the future, with the environment as the focus.  It was this incredibly unique outlook and mission which drew me to the Institute.

The Institute (or as we call it here, the ‘machon’) is located within Kibbutz Ketura, a first generation kibbutz 30 minutes drive north from the southern Israeli city of Eilat.  The machon is only a small part of the kibbutz, however I have been told that it is something the permanent residents here are very proud of.  A kibbutz by definition is a group of people committed to communal living, and pooling of resources.  As an American, I would call it a commune, but that isn’t quite accurate.  What sets Israeli kibbutzim apart from American communal living situations is that there are actually laws and policies in place which specifically regulate the kibbutzim.  They are official institutions, and under the ‘kibbutz’ categorization there are several different types of living arrangements.  For example: As I understand it, a commune is a commune. People live together, pool monetary and other resources, and participate in a group industry such as farming.  Under the title of ‘kibbutz’, there are many variations, including kibbutzim that do not share resources, but instead are very privatized, and some kibbutzim that are still very collective in nature.  In short, a kibbutz isn’t necessarily a particular way of life, but does have  a particular legal designation.  But now on to more interesting and less confusing topics!

Kibbutz Ketura is one of the more collective kibbutzim, and its members eat together, worship together, and all take some role in the operation of the kibbutz.  As students at the machon, my classmates and I are part of the community, and utilize things like the community dining room, laundry facilities, pool, and basketball courts/soccer field.  As we wander around the compound, we run across permanent residents doing the same thing, and using the same facilities.  We try to respect their home, and they put up with us for the semester!  We aren’t the only group on the kibbutz, either.  There are numerous groups here at any given time: people traveling, volunteers, machon interns, military traveling on leave, and young Israelis here for their compulsory year of service.  We at the machon are incredibly lucky, since we have our own small compound on the outskirts of the kibbutz, which is absolutely beautiful.

A little on why I think it is so magnificent.  We are nestled in the middle of the Arava section of the Negev Desert, with the Jordanian mountains to the east and a small range of low mountains 40 minutes hike to the west of Ketura. Because of the location between two sets of mountains, the sun sets very early in the evening, and it is dark by 6:30 PM.  The upside to the loss of daylight is the view of the surrounding kibbutzim and the Jordanian villages across the border, which can be seen better at night than during the day.  When I see the lights at night, it strikes me just how populated the desert is. 

Nighttime is also the time with the best temperature.  It drops to the low 70’s, upper 60’s Fahrenheit,  and with the constant breeze it is simply heavenly.  During the day the temperature has been reaching the upper 80’s easily, with the ever present breeze.  It is so dry here, however, that you don’t feel the heat as you would in the eastern United States, and so temperatures this high don’t feel overwhelming.  Unfortunately, that same phenomenon also increases the danger out here in the desert.  It is so easy to get dehydrated, and the worst part is, it really sneaks up on you.  I’ve already had one encounter with dehydration, and I’ve been here for all of 4 days; needless to say, I’m being much more careful.  The risk is worth it, though, to experience such an awesome area and program.

So that is the basic overview of Kibbutz Ketura and the Arava region where I’m currently living. I was unsure if I would enjoy it when I first arrived, since it was so different from where I’m used to residing, however I really am enjoying it.  The pictures in the new slideshow beneath my entries are of my room, and my Kibbutz Lotan (a neighboring kibbutz specializing in eco-tourism and sustainable living) visit last week.  I’ll discuss that more in a later post, perhaps today or tomorrow.  Until next time, Shalom!