Conditions were harsh, and at first Hussar lived in a bus on the site. Even basic facilities like a bathroom were lacking, and showers could be taken only by driving once a week the 10 kilometres to kibbutz Nachshon. The first five families, four Jewish and one Palestinian settled there in 1978, dwelling in tents. Among the early members (from November 1980) was Major Wellesley Aron, grandfather of the Israeli singer David Broza. Says David Broza: "The group of people that my grandfather joined saw the place as an opportunity to expand on the idea of finding peace within yourself as a prelude to bringing peace to the community and the region". The School for Peace was established in 1978. The founding families came mainly from a secular background. The Neve Shalom-Wahat as-Salam model earned the 1989 Beyond War Award, and inspired the 1992 birth of the sustained Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group in the United States.