Nadia, who joined Sindyanna in 2015, is our Visitors Center Manager and Lead Group Facilitator. A long-time peace activist, she has two daughters and lives in Nof al-Ghalil (Upper Nazareth). Nadia is a certified compassionate communications (NVC) trainer, as well as a certified group facilitator, designer of ecological gardens, permaculture and hydroponics, and a reiki, meditation and mindfulness healer.
Nadia was born in the Galilee and as a child lived on a small plot of land her family managed to retain after the 1948 war. “I grew up in the fields, learned how to grow the food we ate, vegetables and fruit, poultry, sheep and beef. We never bought any food from the outside. I inherited my mother’s love for the land and the environment, for animals and nature.”
Nadia leads a unique project that links sustainable agriculture with women’s empowerment. It involves the development of hydroponics, a clean and healthy agricultural practice, using simple methods even where there is no land available. “A lot of Arab women have free time,” says Nadia. “They can learn new skills and save time and money by growing their own food. Most of them have flat roofs or yards, this is a real possibility for them. We need to promote this model, to develop awareness and internalize the importance of self-sufficiency and sustainable economy. This is a long-term process, like helping women go out to work, it also takes time.”
What do you like most about your job?
Meeting the groups that visit the Visitors Center, their curiosity that helps spread our message, values and knowledge in the field of fair trade, organic farming, olive oil and living together.
How has your life changed since you started working at Sindyanna?
Knowing that I am going to meet more new people from different parts of the world helps me wake up in the morning with motivation and enthusiasm.
Tell us about a significant moment you experienced at work
Two weeks after I started working at Sindyanna, my mother passed away, and even though I was new, I felt surrounded and embraced by the team.
What did you learn from your colleagues that you didn’t know before?
I learned a lot about fair trade, olive oil tasting, olive growing, basket weaving.
What difficulty have you overcome which has made you particularly proud?
Teamwork. I am a very independent person and like making my own decisions, but at Sindyanna I learned to work collaboratively
What values are you passing on to your children, and have they changed as a result of your work at Sindyanna?
Values of common humanity, respecting the different and the similar. Respecting the person as a person regardless of their origin/religion/belief, solidarity, respecting myself and who I am. All these values have been strengthened in me since I started working at Sindyanna
What special family recipes do you like to prepare using Sindyanna oil?
Grape leaves stuffed with rice with the Cortina olive oil variety, eggplant salad with our house blend and carob syrup, and fruit salad with the Picual variety and carob syrup.
What is your favorite olive oil variety and why?
It’s hard to decide which one is my favorite, so I experiment with a different one every time. Now I use the Picual at home, before that I had the Coratina, and so on.