What is Embroideries of Hope?
I am raising £1,500 to start a women’s workshop in a refugee camp in northern Greece. Embroideries of Hope will allow refugee women to escape their (social) isolation in the camp, and empower them through creating beautiful crafts and making a small revenue from their work. They will be given space and material to create original craft works that will then be sold to support them and their families.
By getting a small job and income the women will feel empowered again after waiting for months in the refugee camp without anything to do. We are targeting 100 women living in a refugee camp in Greece.
Sana from Syria...
I am Sana from Syria and I am currently studying for a Masters' degree in Global Project Management (2015-2016) at the University of Essex. I have been involved and interested in volunteering activities for a long time. Additionally, I am a member of thet Essex Entrepreneurship Society and I am the Marketing Director.
During an interesting meeting with a friend, we discussed how we could help refugee women living in a refugee camp in Greece. Myself, my friend from France and young refugees in the refugee camp discussed the potential of starting a small project helping those women to invest their skills and free time in a camp near Thessaloniki, Greece. We decided to start this project to give the women and the camp a new life. I believe creative work helps refugees' better integration in the society they live in and supports their well-being.
Entrepreneurship as a response to the 'Refugee crisis'?
Every day, there are people fleeing their country's because of war. Their tremendous suffering does not stop after fleeing their war-torn countries, as they are faced with great hardship on the perilous journey they undertake to reach a safe refuge. Life in refugee camps is dehumanising and rips people of their dignity as they are asked to wait and wait without being given the opportunity to work, study or distract themselves with any kind of activity.
Can you imagine what it feels like to be trapped in a refugee camp doing nothing but eating food prepared for you, waiting all day long for months and sleeping in a tent?
Many of the people living in refugee camps have valuable skills, creative ideas and amazing experience. These people used to have jobs, own a car, a house, maybe a business or a shop; some were teachers, carpenters, or even volunteers working with refugees in Lebanon and Turkey.
The refugees we are working with in Greece want to work and use their skills: they do not want to sit all day long waiting, doing nothing. The Syrian, Palestinian and Iraqi women whom this project will support want to use their skills and their time in a useful and a productive way. Other young refugees are ready to help them by building a workshop space and assisting them throughout the creating and selling process.
This project will give them the materials they need to design and make crafts as well as the channels to sell their products in Greece, France and the United Kingdom to gather a small revenue. It will improve the refugees' quality of living and inspire others to make use of their skills, and break the social isolation they live in.
This project is highly important for me since I know from my past experience the huge impact of such a project on refugees psychological health. I understand that this project is just a small contribution to the refugee crisis, but if everyone who can does something small to help, I am sure this project will have a huge impact.
Many people are generous in giving donations to refugees in terms of everyday essentials however, they may not be aware that the refugees also need to feel that they are useful and important. Our project is helping in a special way without harming the refugees' feelings and without giving them that sense of just existing. By supporting this project you will be helping a group of refugee women to take their destinies in to their hands and allowing them to alleviate their everyday hardship.
How will the money funded be used?To start this workshop, we need at least £1500 which will be spent on the following:Preparation of the workshop room (refurbishing, painting and cleaning): £150 Three big tables and 30 chairs: £100The materials needed (wool, accessories and ribbons): £360Tools needed (to make the crafts): £160Packaging of the products before distribution: £75Shipping and distributing cost: £65Events cost (Two events to sell the crafts in the UK and France): £60Small gifts for all volunteers who will help build the workshop space (Cards and crafts): £105Transportation (we will buy the materials and tools at least twice during the project): £80Two return tickets from the UK to Greece and public transportation: £240Hotel for two people three nights in Greece: £75Any additional money we will get will expand the number of women benefiting from our project and more materials and tools will be added. Additionally, when we raise more than £1500, we will buy better quality materials to improve the quality of the crafts. All profits made from selling the handmade crafts will be returned to the women.
Beautiful Gifts await Generous Donors! Specific donations will be rewarded in different ways. We will also offer the donations of 250 a unique design of the donor’s name in Arabic. This design is offered by a talented architect entrepreneur who owns a famous brand in Dubai. Check a sample of her work here:
Find out more about EMBROIDERIES OF HOPE here!
Visit our Facebook event to follow our progress. Please invite your friends to the event and encourage them to donate through click crowdfunding platform. You can also find us on TwitterFacebook event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1131161846932816/ Twitter Page Link: https://twitter.com/Embroidery_Hope Please help by donating for our project and help to make it real. If you cannot donate, please help by sharing our project with your friends. We will appreciate any effort you will make to help our beneficiaries.
