DOHA: Embroidered products made by the skilled hands of Syrian women refugees in Jordan are on sale at the three-day ‘Bazaar of Hope’ which started yesterday at the Souq Waqif Art Centre.
The hundreds of hand embroidered items made by 135 women at the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan were a product of a psycho-social empowerment programme Qatar Red Crescent (QRC) initiated two years ago.
Under the programme the women affected by the conflict are trained for two months in embroidery and their products totally made by hand are sold in bazaars, proceeds of which go back to them and the project.
This is the seventh time QRC has organised the bazaar, Dr Nisreen Mohammed Yahia, QRC’s Psycho-Social Support Programs Director, told The Peninsula.
“We held bazaars twice in Amman and this is the fifth time in Qatar, but the first time here in Souq Waqif and we hope to continue it will continue,” said Dr Yahia. File and notebook covers, mobile phone pouches, wallets, box covers, photo frames, prayer set are among the products being sold at the bazaar which continues until tomorrow.
Under the slogan ‘Together for Humanity’, the bazaar is aimed at generating funds for Syrian women in the Zaatari Refugee Camp and their families as well as encouraging talents.
This is one of a series of QRC programmes for Syrian refugees. Its strategy is based on occupational therapy, through a crafting project for the Zaatari women managed and sponsored by QRC, which secured all necessary supplies and requirements.
The project is designed also to provide socio-psychological support for women who have difficulty coping with their new lives, amid severe conditions due to the war and concomitant destruction and homelessness.
Beside the revenue, the good outcomes of the project for the beneficiaries include occupying their free time and utilizing their skills and energy to help themselves and their families.
Consequently, the negative psychological impact of their adverse circumstances will be replaced with positive thinking that stimulates them to make their lives better and revives their hopes in shifting from idleness and depression to a sense of productivity and adaptation despite hardships.
Apart from this programme, QRC has been helping the refugees providing them medical and relief support.
The bazaar is open from 8.30am to 9.30pm today and tomorrow at Souq Waqif Art Centre.
The Peninsula
