Making the work of Palestinian women visible

“The women's centre was really a great help for the mothers and girls, also to help the children with their English homework. That is how it all started. Then we continued with offering girls who were off from school, between 7^th and 10^th grade to come and practice their English. Later on we also introduced health education. If the woman knows everything about the family’s health needs, it can be the difference between life and death. Here in Nahhalin, we are living outside of Bethlehem and it is good to know first aid.”

“We have health education, language and computer classes and classes in agriculture and farming. The women actually proved us wrong, they were really interested and wanted to know more about agriculture. Some of the girls came for one year, twice a week. They learned all the trees, all the plants, how to trim, how to plant, the seeds. How to plant herbs, and how to dry herbs. One of the girls started growing herbs in pots on her window, and now they are all over the house. It is a good income for the family. Another girl convinced her father to give her a really bad piece of land. It was not considered good for planting, and the family said it was not good for cucumbers. Now there is plenty of them, and she even has enough of them to sell to the neighbors too. We also have classes for food processing. We teach how to make your own cheese, yoghurt and different kinds of jams. This is good if you want to sell. We teach the mothers how to make healthy food for their kids."

“Every year we have a women’s week and I pick a theme. This year it is stress management and living under pressure. It is very important to see that other women also experience this, so you can exchange ideas and values. Each year I try to take them for a trip, to take them outside of the village. The purpose is not only to have fun, but also to learn.”

Jihan is an impressive woman, and with a family and the Tent of Nations to run, it is a wonder she has all this time and energy to spare.  It was her husband, Daoud’s idea that she could start a project to try and help the women in the village next to Tent of Nations.“I organize all of these things, but get volunteers to help us at the women’s centre, such as yourselves. And then we take in experts for certain courses.”

After one of the weekly English conversation classes, I have been holding together with my colleague Hannah, there is a workshop and we are invited to stay. UNDP have a program targeting women in vulnerable villages, and two young women are coming to talk. The topic for the day is ‘Divorce according to Islamic law’, and unfortunately we are forced to observe an inquisitive discussion without understanding the language. When we later on ask Jihan to give us a summary, she says they discussed issues such as: what happens if a man is drunk when he says he divorce you? What if he only says it once instead of the required three times?

For us it is these opportunities to see a world that is hidden for the regular tourist or even for us on our visits to the villages. To hear that a woman whose husband divorce her, has to go back and live with her parents, and that he then can change his mind until three menstrual cycles has passed, was not only news to us, but also news to Jihan, who is Christian.

It may seem unrelated to women’s rights, but to empower the women in the village enables development and is an important part of strengthening the Palestinian society. The centre provides opportunities to communicate both with each other, and with others. It gives them the tools to earn an income, and better provide for their families both financially, physically and mentally.

Thank you Jihan, and Thank you the women of Nahhalin.