Soft, comfortable, simple and, above all, Palestinian. Such are the models of baby clothes made from organic cotton and created within the program “Improving the socio-economic conditions of Palestinian women and girls in the area of Bethlehem (West Bank), Palestinian Territories,” funded by the CAM and implemented by Caritas Jerusalem with the FPSC, in place since 2008.
“One hundred percent local product,” says Simon Awad proud from the Fashion and Textile Institute in the village of Beit Sahour, in the Bethlehem district. On the table are several models of children’s clothing created by women who work there, from organic cotton and embroidered by hand in the typical Palestinian pattern by ladies of Bethlehem who work from their living rooms. “This product is unique, there is nothing like so far created in Palestine,” says Eyad Aburdeineh, coordinator of Caritas Jerusalem, local partner of the program “Improving the socio-economic conditions of Palestinian women and girls in the area of Bethlehem (West Bank ), Palestinian Territories,” funded by the Community of Madrid, which comes to a close this summer.
Since training workshops for vulnerable women in sewing area of Bethlehem began in 2008, positive results are already visible. Most of these women have found jobs in various textile mills, so that conditions have improved of life for their families. On top of this is the final result, a pioneering product in the Palestinian Territories, baby clothes “Made in Palestine.”