Ramallah – Sheikh Barakat Ziad Hijazi Tamimi, Imam of the Khaled Bin Walid Mosque in Hebron says he is now able to include issues and problems that strike at the core of his community in his daily and weekly lessons and Friday sermons, issues mostly avoided by imams and preachers given their social sensitivity. In particular, these issues pertain to disputes or problems between men and women.
He says the change came after recently participating in a number of training courses conducted by MIFTAH in the field of health and reproductive rights and gender-based violence, which targeted imams and female preachers in various districts, including Hebron. The courses were part of MIFTAH’s UNFPA-funded “Support Women Protection” project.
Female preacher Sajeda Omar Shurafa had a similar experience. Shurafa is a preacher in the Waqf Directorate in Nablus who also participated in MIFTAH’s training workshops She says the capacity building workshop offered her broader knowledge and skills in broaching and raising awareness on social issues related to marital and family relationships in a way that guarantees family stability and social security and reduces domestic violence.
Tamimi said while his participation reaped many benefits, one of the most important of these is that it broadened his sphere of knowledge and information in the field of health and reproductive rights, especially women’s rights and gender-based violence and the importance of renouncing and combatting it. “It created considerable interaction between us and our target audiences. We hope the outreach scope widens even further so we can target more social sectors beyond confining them to lessons in the mosque; we want to branch out to other institutions, clubs, associations, and youth centers so as many people as possible can benefit.”
Tamimi continues that while there were those who were convinced of their message and connected with them, others had reservations. “Still, at least there were discussions and acceptance of what we proposed in terms of social issues and awareness on topics that affect the daily lives of Palestinian families, especially women and children.” He said he hoped MIFTAH would also expand on the issues for discussion, which were posed by the target audience who responded positively to the training.
Sajeda Shurafa, had a similar experience in regards to the impact of the training. “Now we broach many subjects, most importantly, GBV and women’s health and reproductive rights,” adding that these subjects built on previous rounds of training in 2016. “Today, we are more professional and accurate in our message during our sermons and interact with a large sector of society, women. We also hope for more participation from men because their contribution will help create solutions to many of the problems and will give families a more solid ground which will in turn give them more self-confidence.”
Sajeda believes working on the ground would be more effective. “We need to integrate and become more involved in our society’s problems and try to find solutions to them because this will contribute to a more stable society and regulated family life,” she said. Therefore, she continued, “Our role is no longer confined to mosques; our message does not stop there but has spread to schools and organizations and to any place we can reach.“ Sajeda maintained that MIFTAH’s training boosted their ability to broach and interact with problems more efficiently and to contribute to finding solutions to them. “Today we are confronting these challenges head-on and are working to overcome them right away or through coordination with the relevant parties to provide the necessary support for families, women and children.”
ضمن مشروع 'دعم حماية المرأة'
إمام وواعظة يرويان تجربتهما وقصة نجاحهما مع 'مفتاح'
تاريخ النشر: 29/12/2018
بقلم: مفتاح
بات بمقدور الشيخ بركات زياد حجازي التميمي إمام مسجد خالد بن الوليد في مدينة الخليل أن ُيضمّن في دروسه اليومية والأسبوعية وفي خطب الجمعة موضوعات من صميم ما يعانيه المجتمع المحلي من مشكلات وقضايا لطالما تجنب الأئمة والوعاظ الحديث فيها أو التطرق إليها أخذا بالاعتبار لحساسية المجتمع حيال تناول بعض القضايا، خاصة ما تعلّق منها فيما ينشأ من خلافات وتنازع بين المرأة والرجل.
هذا الأمر تحقق بفعل مشاركته في أكثر من دورة تدريبية نفذتها المبادرة الفلسطينية لتعميق الحوار العالمي "مفتاح" في الآونة الأخيرة، في مجال الحقوق الصحية والإنجابية والعنف المبني على النوع الاجتماعي، واستهدفت أئمة وواعظات من مختلف المحافظات، ومن بينها محافظة الخليل، ضمن مشروع "دعم حماية المرأة" الممول من صندوق الأمم المتحدة للسكان UNFPA.
مثل هذا أيضاً، ينطبق على الواعظة ساجدة عمر الشرفا، وهي واعظة في مديرية أوقاف نابلس، حيث منحتها المشاركة في دورات التدريب هذه معرفة ومهارة أكبر في الخوض بقضايا مجتمعية تتعلق بعلاقة الرجل بزوجته وأسرته، وبما يكفل استقرار الأسر وأمن المجتمع والحد من العنف وتناول القضايا المجتمعية والتوعية عليها.
يقول التميمي:" تمخضت مشاركتنا عن فوائد كثيرة، أهمها توسيع دائرة المعرفة والاطلاع في مجال الحقوق الصحية والانجابية وخاصة حقوق المراة والعنف المبني على النوع الاجتماعي وأهمية نبذه ومكافحته، وإحداث تفاعل كبير بيننا وبين من بتنا نستهدفهم بخطاباتنا ودروسنا ومواعظنا، ونحن نأمل بأن تتوسع دائرة الاستهداف لفئات أكثر بحيث لا تقتصر المشاركة وإعطاء الدروس على المساجد فقط، بل تمتد إلى معظم مؤسسات المجتمع من أندية وجمعيات ومراكز شباب ليستفيد منها أكبر عدد من المواطنين".
يضيف التميمي:" خلال ممارستنا لما تعلمناه واجهنا بداية من هو مقتنع بما نؤديه في رسالتنا وتواصلنا معه، بينما أبدى البعض تحفظا. ومع ذلك كانت هناك نقاشات.. وكان هناك تقبّل بما نطرحه من قضايا مجتمعية وتوعية بقضايا تمس الحياة اليومية للاسرة الفلسطينية وخاصة المرأة والطفل، وهذا الأمر نرجو أن تتوسع "مفتاح" أكثر في طرح موضوعات للنقاش باتت مطلوبة من قبل من خالطناهم وحملوا أراء إيجابية حيال ما قمنا به".
بدورها، عبّرت ساجدة الشرفا والتي تعمل واعظة في مديرية أوقاف نابلس، عن رأي مماثل فيما يتعلق بالأثر الذي تركته التدريبات الأخيرة التي شاركت فيها من خلال مؤسسة "مفتاح" في الموضوعات ذاتها والمتعلقة بالحقوق الصحية والانجابية والعنف المبني على العنوع الاجتماعي. وقالت:" أصبحنا الآن نخوض في موضوعات عديدة، أهمها: العنف، وحقوق المرأة، والصحة الإنجابية، وهي موضوعات كانت استكمالا لجولات سابقة من التدريب تمت في العام 2016". أضافت:" نحن اليوم أكثر حرفية ومهنية فيما نؤديه من رسالة في الوعظ والإرشاد، والانخراط مع شريحة كبيرة من المجتمع وهي النساء، ونتمنى أن تكون هناك أيضا مشاركة أكبر للرجال لأن مشاركتهم تساهم في ايجاد حلول لكثير من المشكلات، ويعطي الأسر أرضية ثابتة تمنح ثقة أكبر بالنفس".
ترى ساجدة أن العمل على أرض الواقع يمكن أن يكون أكثر فاعلية وجدوى، وبالتالي لا بد من الانخراط والاندماج أكثر مع مشكلات مجتمعنا ومحاولة إيجاد الحلول لها، لأن ذلك يساهم في استقرار المجتمع، وانتظام حياة الأسر فيه. "لهذا، فدورنا الآن لم يعد مقتصرا على المساجد، ولم تعد رسالتنا تقف هناك فقط، بل امتدت إلى الجمعيات والمدارس والمؤسسات، وكل مكان يمكن أن نصل إليه، لأن هذا في صلب الرسالة التي نؤديها، خاصة أن ما تلقيناه من تدريبات منحنا قدرة أكبر على التعاطي مع المشكلات والتفاعل معها، والمساهمة في البحث عن حلول لها، وأصبحنا نواجه هذا التحديات مباشرة ونعمل على التغلب عليها بشكل آني او التنسيق مع الجهات ذات الاختصاص لتقديم الدعم اللازم للاسر والنساء والاطفال".
'Cake and Vanilla': One story of success
Date posted: May 05, 2022
By MIFTAH
Ramallah – In the village of “Jadeera” northwest of Jerusalem, Sally Suleiman and a group of friends chose an old abandoned building as a launching point for their project “Cake and Vanilla”. Since then, they have consistently increased the sale of their date and nut cookies, first in their village and then later, in areas around and beyond Ramallah and even inside the Green Line. The women now create a quality, well-marketed product after honing their online marketing skills, creating and running their own website and being part of other similar websites to display their baked goods.
MIFTAH: Financial and technical support
Sally and her project partners admit that their success would never have been possible if it were not for MIFTAH’s support, providing them with the necessary equipment and appliances and working to develop their financial administration and marketing skills.
“MIFTAH was a huge support,” Sally says. “It gave us material and technical support, which motivated us to push forward and reach as many people as possible. Today, ‘Cake and Vanilla’ is a household name, not just in Jadeera but in areas in and around Ramallah and all over Palestine.”
Challenges and Obstacles
Sally mostly cites marketing challenges due to competition and gaps in the market in places they have difficulty accessing. She also points to the interminable problem of funding the website. MIFTAH, she says, helped them with ways to tackle this issue through providing them with training in online marketing, website management and funding with the goal of reaching a broader public.
Socio-economic impacts
Sally maintains that the project has tangibly improved their social and economic statuses and has allowed them to become more acquainted with society. She also says it boosted their confidence and their ability to depend on themselves and that their newfound economic empowerment had a positive impact for them within their own households and communities.
Community development project
MIFTAH project coordinator for community development and income-generating projects, Hanan Said, said these interventions with young female university graduates are part of MIFTAH’s efforts to empower women and integrate them in the labor market. The projects also give them the opportunity for financial independence and for developing their personal and professional skills. This, Said maintains, will allow them to carry out an effective role by reflecting the positive impact of women’s economic participation, in addition to elevating women’s statuses in their communities.
The tale of three female university students and their construction materials project
Date posted: February 09, 2022
By MIFTAH
Ramallah – Sarah, Rimah and Aya are three young women from the villages of Beit Iksa and Beit Dukko, northwest of Jerusalem, who ventured into an innovated project like no Palestinian women before them.
The first step on their road to success was MIFTAH, which has and continues to work towards supporting Palestinian women in the West Bank and in the Jerusalem district in particular, by providing small income-generating projects.
Sarah and Rimah are still university students while their colleague, Aya, is already graduated and works full-time with the project. The women tapped into their local communities’ needs, seeing how construction projects were mushrooming in their area. This, they realized, meant they could easily obtain construction materials if they had the means, including jacks and winches.
For Sarah Liqyaniyeh from Beit Ikas, who graduated with a degree in design and décor, their project to rent out construction materials and equipment was a way of fulfilling the needs of their communities. “No other woman or girl has ever thought up this idea before,” she says. “The project entails renting out construction supplies and equipment – jacks and iron elbows and other materials. This is a project that girls and women are probably not used to hearing about, whether in our villages or in other areas. Projects for women almost always revolve around food or embroidery. My colleagues and I wanted to do something different, something only for us, which would allow us to depend on ourselves. So we chose a project that no one has ever done before.”
She continues, “I studied and worked in design and décor and I have also worked in the field at construction sites. During discussions and conversations with my family and others in my village, I heard them talking about buying construction equipment and renting it from outside the village. This is when I had the idea for our project. I said to myself:
Why shouldn’t I be doing this? It’s a sure thing.” So, I pitched the idea to my two colleagues and they were both enthusiastic about it and thought it was a great idea. Our families were also supportive and even our local communities, which helped us find an easy and quick way to obtain the necessary construction equipment and materials. We have reaped profitable financial returns too, and hope one day we will be able to expand. Hopefully, MIFTAH will continue to support us; after all, it was the one that put us on this path.”
Supporting vital projects such as this one for Palestinian women in several West Bank districts has been a MIFTAH intervention for years. It is part of its “Women’s Empowerment” project, which supports small-income generating projects in cooperation with the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development.
MIFTAH project manager, Hanan Said maintains: “The success story this project was able to achieve, whether in terms of impacting or changing the realities of over 400 Palestinian women and their families in rural areas, cities, or marginalized areas, is that these projects empowered and improved the social and economic lives of women. MIFTAH’s interventions have succeeded in reaching women, particularly the marginalized, in over 70 locations in Jericho and the Jordan Valley, the Ramallah/Al Bireh and the Jerusalem districts,” she says. Said continues that MIFTAH works on an almost annual basis, in cooperation with the Arab Fund, to reach new groups of women in various areas and offer them the necessary support to contribute to their economic participation in Palestinian society, with a focus on Jerusalem and its suburbs.
Through its support for women, MIFTAH seeks to increase opportunities for young women especially, to enable them to participate in the labor market and assume an active and influential role in creating positive patterns of economic participation for women, ultimately elevating their status in their respective communities. MIFTAH takes into consideration the needs of marginalized women by economically empowering underprivileged women through small grants.
