Ramallah – As part of its project to support local communities through small income-generating projects, funded by the Arab Fund for Economic & Social Development, MIFTAH recently carried out two exchange visits. The first was for two groups of women that run honey production projects in the Jerusalem-area village of Al Jeeb and in Jiftlik in the Jordan Valley, both through MIFTAH grants. The second visit was to food production projects in Silwan, south of the Old City of Jerusalem and Beit Dukko, northwest of the city.

According to MIFTAH project coordinator Hanan Said, the visits were aimed at showing support for the women’s groups, to exchange expertise on income-generating projects run by women in these regions and to benefit from the experiences of the beneficiaries and increase the opportunities for learning and developing the production process. Said explained that MIFTAH has been offering grants to such projects throughout 2016 to 2018.

Ibtisam Al Masri, one beneficiary from the beekeeping and honey production project in Al Jeeb stressed on the significance of the exchange visits which she and her colleagues made to Jiflik. During the trip, she says they saw some of the equipment used in beekeeping and producing honey, especially the sterilization equipment, quality of the feeders and how they are used. “Also, our colleagues from the Jiftlik project learned about our work such as our burn-treatment creams, which are made from beeswax. In general, such visits are really important and we hope they will continue because they are essential in exchanging expertise that allows us to develop our joint projects.”

Meanwhile, Faeda Halabiyeh, who is part of the food production project in Silwan, visited Beit Dukko where MIFTAH has a similar project for manufacturing dairy products. She said, “This was a new experience for us; we learned a lot of things from our colleagues in Beit Dukko including ways of making pickles and canning tomatoes. We also told them about our work and the food we make including pastries, ready-made meals and pickles. We hope these visits continue because we learn from each other.”

MIFTAH’s project aims to reach women in marginalized areas and places most affected by Israeli occupation measures, especially areas in the Jerusalem district. The goal is to support women in these areas and enable them to manage small-income generating projects through which they can increase their family’s income and achieve a certain level of financial independence.