Alon was born and raised in Israel and graduated from the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in 2001. 

As an experienced architect and urban planner with a special interest in spatial justice, Alon conducted his internship with two affiliated organizations of SDI which are supporting shack and slum dwellers in Namibia and Kenya. In Namibia, Alon worked with the local organization, Namibia Housing Action Group (NHAG), which is supporting the shack dwellers federation of Namibia and was part of the Community Land Information Program (CLIP). This program supported communities in informal settlements, who collected information for participatory development planning aiming for upgrading, including the security of land tenure, basic services, and improved housing. In Kenya, Alon joined the local organizations, Muungano Wa Wanavijiji and SDI Kenya, and was involved in practical research on models of low-cost incremental housing as part of their activities in the special planning area of the slum of Mukuru. 

 

“For the people by the people” - this is how the organizations of the shack and slum dwellers aim to function. Though, it is only part of the full phrase by Abraham Lincoln, “Government of the people, for the people, by the people, shall not perish from the earth.” However, as said by Jockin Arputham, slum dweller from Mumbai and the president of Slum/Shack Dwellers International (SDI), ”No government takes the poor seriously.” Therefore, in order for the poor in the slums to change their reality, they should be united and active, whilst governments should fight slums rather than fighting slum dwellers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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