idealist.org

BUSTAN (www.bustan.org) welcomes interns and volunteers for several months up to a year.

WHO WE WANT:

We want individuals who are or want to be involved in the struggle for social and environmental justice in Israel. While most of our interns are students, Bustan welcomes interns of all ages and educational and professional backgrounds. Our projects involve work in the following fields: building, farming, policy research and analysis, human rights advocacy, environmental outreach and education, restorative development and more. If you are trained or training in these fields, your experience can be a great help to us. We have also had many successful volunteers/interns who do not fit into these categories.

Above all, Bustan volunteers MUST be COMMITTED, PASSIONATE, and INDEPENDENT. Bustan volunteers get a lot of support for taking initiative - more support for taking initiative than they will get guidance. If you are the kind of person that requires a lot of instruction and structure, this is not the right position for you. If you are the kind of person who thrives on an atmosphere in which individual talents and capabilities are fully trusted and nurtured and allowed to flourish into full creativity, do apply to work with us. Bustan is a supportive environment, but we do not hand-hold - we expect a balance of bravery and humility, and perhaps above all, creativity from our interns.

Ability to speak Arabic and/or Hebrew will be a big help. English is necessary.

We encourage volunteers to spend part of their time weekly learning at least one local language and can help arrange that as needed.

HOW IT WORKS:

Internships are awarded to qualified candidates on an ongoing basis. Internships can be arranged for students seeking credit through their home institutions.

Each internship is uniquely designed by, and aims to meet the individual needs and interests of the intern and the needs of BUSTAN. There is a sizable variety of work available to interns. The work available depends on the timing of the internship. The longer the commitment to BUSTAN, the more possibilities there will be to really dig into a particular project.

Each intern is asked to commit two hours a week to help with administrative tasks and maintaining our Green Center, and is also asked to participate in other activities such as staff meetings and retreats to most fully integrate into the organization.

Recent volunteer projects have included:

--initiating eco-arts courses for Bedouin women

--designing trash disposal methods in unrecognized villages and planning a playground made of recycled materials

--helping to build a straw-bale mosque

--researching members of the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) and planning a conference

--helping with funding research, writing and reporting

--managing BUSTAN’s Bedouin/Jewish permaculture course


LOGISTICS and next steps:

Internships require a minimum commitment of one month. BUSTAN is unable to provide stipends to its volunteers, but offers accommodation in our Green Center in Beer Sheva for all volunteers for a modest rental fee. It is also possible to arrange for interns participating in field work to receive room and board in a Bedouin village in exchange for English lessons.

Please look carefully through our website (www.bustan.org) to learn more about our projects, our volunteers, and life at our Green Center. The volunteer/internship application form is located at http://www.bustan.org/vol_int.asp . You are also always welcome to contact us directly with questions or concerns at info@bustan.org .

We look forward to hearing from you!