So my original volunteer placement was at Im Rafat Nursery. I gave it a fair shot but I'm sorry, NO! They didn't even really need me and I was no help working with Arabic-speaking 4 year olds anyways! Though in the two days I was there, I did bond with the sweetest little troublemaker named Lifth. We held hands and told each other secrets neither understood then giggled. Too bad I couldn't take him with me to my next placement, because I did have to go. I came to serve however I could, but that wasn't going to happen there.
So, phone calls were made, and MaryKatherine (who was also at a nursery and felt like I did) and I were placed at Bethlehem Fair Trade Artisans on Milk Grotto Street near Manger Square. Yay!! We are both SO excited to work here. We are both so passionate about the work they do, and about fair trade in general. The organization is only a couple years old, but already partnered with over 100 local artisans, and the number continues to grow. Suzan is the Executive Director and she is a powerhouse. A wonderful, kind and very driven woman. She has goals of making the organization recognized world-wide and I don't doubt she will achieve that.
The organization seeks to invest in Palestine by supporting it's artisans. What happens is that artisans end up getting ripped off by souvenir shops because there is so much competition and they just need to make something off their work to support their family. To make matters worse, many Israeli tour guides strike up deals with certain shop owners...if they bring their group to his shop, the guide will get a cut. This drives down profits for the artisans even more. Some shop owners even buy personal information off of tour companies in Jerusalem, then contact guides on their own. Further...foreign markets, like China, are moving in with similar products that are much cheaper. The pressure of the occupation has caused Palestinian factories to close, driving up prices of some products, so store owners buy their stuff from China instead. That's right, it's likely that if you've been here and visited a shop, you bought things made in China, not the Holy Land!!
So far, MaryKatherine and I have been helping with two things, a new website and recording new products as they get photographed. They are re-designing the website and need it to be in clear, simple English so that it can be easily translatable to many different languages. A previous volunteer already had a lot written so we have spent many hours re-working this Brit's not-so-great writing. It's been fun though, I love MaryKatherine, we have very similar souls and make a great writing team. Plus, the other two Palestinian girls working at BFTA, Shatha and Lana are really fun too. They are my age, 25/26 and both got their masters in Italy. Their English is really good and they have the best dynamic....Shatha is passionate about politics and liberating Palestine so talks about it whenever she can, while Lana rolls her eyes and begs Shatha to stop "boring" us with political talk. It's so hilarious! Lana cares too, just would rather be asked than assuming people want to hear about it. She believes we can understand much of the issues just by living here. We love them both and they're both right...for instance, right now the water shortages have just hit our home. You have no idea how much you take water for granted until you must use as little as possible. But Shatha is right too, MaryKatherine and I love to discuss Palestine with her. She is also Christian and very involved in Kairos, a document written by a wide variety of Palestinian Christians calling the world to recognize the injustices happening here.
So basically, volunteering is great. The cause is great and the people are great. We also periodically get to visit artisan workshops and hang out with international solidarity groups that come to visit. One women's group of artisans uses recycled glass in their products and makes handmade silver jewelry...olive tree leaves dipped in silver!!! So awesome. Mary Katherine and I are going to create some of our own designs for this olive leaf jewelry that the women can make. There is also a center for mentally disabled adults that makes handmade paper out of recycled paper products to make cards. I am going to go one day to work with them, I'm really excited! It's definitely a more laid back setting than many other volunteer placements, but we get to make concrete contributions and see how valuable our time and efforts are immediately.
Check out the website here. The new website we've been working out is not yet created or published, but you can still see most all of the products here!
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