The Advocacy Project (AP) is seeking funds to build on our 2017 campaign for 50 women refugees from war who receive services from our partner in Jordan, the Collateral Repair Project (CRP). CRP will use the funds to professionalize training at the refugees' collective, the Hope Workshop. The women are already selling as much as they produce. They have also told their stories through three spectacular quilts which AP exhibits in the US and Europe as we make the case for welcoming refugees.
Over two million refugees from the wars in Syria and Iraq have been displaced in Jordan. Many arrived traumatized, impoverished, and grieving the loss of family members. Jordan forbids refugees from seeking employment, which limits their ability to use their skills and increases their dependency on aid. The challenge is to help them to earn a modest income, prepare then for what lies ahead and tap their enormous potential - while respecting Jordanian regulations.
This 3-year project is helping the ladies of the Hope Workshop to produce and sell handicrafts while turning their workshop into a sustainable business. They made an excellent start in 2017 by organizing trainings, managing accounts, and electing officers. Most important, they have also become skilled artisans and now produce quality items such as calendars, cards and wall hangings. Your donations will further professionalize their workshop as it moves from a start-up to business.
We expect that the 50 ladies of Hope will learn new skills and grow in confidence from producing and selling beautiful products. But we also expect that the Hope Workshop will become a model for talented women refugees in Jordan and an example throughout the Middle East. After two years of investment through this campaign, backed up by some remarkably effective support from CRP, these goals are being realized. Now is not the time to relax our efforts!
