By: Pesach Benson – Israel Today; israeltoday.co.il
Since 1994, the program has graduated 20,000 students, mostly from Africa and Asia.
Israel’s Arava region is not the most likely location for a center to teach agriculture. Stretching along Israel’s southern border with Jordan between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea, the area is known for its hot weather and sparse rainfall.
But it was those conditions which attracted Hanni Arnon to launch the Arava International Center for Agricultural Training (AICAT) in 1994. The program brings students from developing countries to learn practical agriculture with Israeli farmers living in the Arava.
“The fact that we are located in the Arava, in the desert, with no natural resources, gives students added value. They understand that human capacity is very important, that you can overcome challenges and odds, and that even you can make the desert bloom,” Arnon told the Tazpit Press Service as a group of 35 Azerbaijani students were finishing an intensive 10-month course.
cont’d…