Products: Dolls (Nativity Scene and the Three Wise Men) in traditional Palestinian costumes
Beneficiaries: 25 young women from Jalazone Refugee Camp

YWCA has a long history in empowering young women and serving communities in Palestine.  Starting as far back as 1893, informal groups of Christian women were meeting in Jaffa and Jerusalem as YWCA groups, which culminated in the establishment of the YWCA of Palestine in 1918.  YWCA set up the Women’s Training center and pre-school in Aqabet Jaber Refugee Camp in Jericho for the refugees from the 1948 war even before UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees)’s services were established.    

Over the last five decades, the YWCA has developed a variety of programs to empower women through educational, cultural and training opportunities, including kindergartens, vocational courses, leadership training, youth summer camps and income generation projects across the area.  

Sunbula works with YWCA’s project in Jalazone Refugee Camp near Ramallah.  The camp’s 10,000 residents are refugees from Lidda, Beit Nabala and other villages in the central Palestine, the vicinity of Ben Gurion Airport today.  The camp suffers from the lack of adequate infrastructure, overcrowding living conditions and high unemployment. 

Over the last several years, the camp has been cut off from the rest of the area by a series of roadblocks, checkpoints and the road system serving Jewish settlers.  It can only be reached along a dirt path on hillsides, as all the regular roads have been blocked or destroyed by the Israeli army.  The basic routine of life, such as visiting relatives living outside of the camp, doing errands in the nearest city of Ramallah, or reaching a hospital, has become a challenge for the camp residents.

At the YWCA, 25 young women from Jalazone earn income through the handicraft production.  Their signature products, the Nativity Scene and Three Wise Men dolls adorned with traditional Palestinian costumes, are very popular among Sunbula’s customers, especially during the Christmas season. 

Contact YWCA of Palestine:
P.O. Box 20044, Jerusalem
Tel: +972-(0)2-628-2593
Fax: +972-(0)2-628-4654
ywca@ywca-palestine.org
www.ywca-palestine.org

View their products on Sunbula Online Craft Market