Embroidered Pillow - Tashreem Camel

The Women’s Program Center, established in 1993 at Amari Refugee Camp near the city of Ramallah in the central West Bank, aims to develop the social, cultural, and professional capacities of women. Run by the seven-member board elected from the community, the Center regularly offers vocational training courses, free medical consultations, fitness activities, kindergarten, and income-generation activities. In 2020, the Center requested Sunbula’s support in reviving their long-dormant embroidery project. Sunbula helped equipping the workshop, trained the women in product development, and began marketing their products to help them become financially viable.

The Camp is home to more than 10,000 people - the refugees from the 1948 war and their descendents from the central Palestinie, including cities of Lydd, Ramla, and Jaffa. After four generations in exile, the densely populated camp of today struggles with overcrowding, poor infrastructure, poverty and unemployment.

The Center’s embroidery products are made by 50 women from struggling families. They create beautiful cushions, bags, wall-hanging, and also adapt at custom-design orders, from face masks with company logos to fully embroidered dresses.

Sunbula, a Jerusalem-based non-profit fair trade organization, is a platform that supports marginalized women and communities in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Palestinian communities within Israel through traditional artisanal crafts.