- A group of women from Kfar Kanna (Cana of Galilee) who learned about Sindyanna and our fair trade products, participated in a weaving workshop and had a wonderful lunch. The beginning of a beautiful friendship!
- Another group of women, this one from the Jewish Federation of Great Atlanta, had a very busy visit that combined workshops on preparing hyssop, tasting olive oil and weaving baskets.
- Finally, we hosted a group of ministers from the Scottish Church who also visited our beautiful Scottish Olive Grove.
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A Wonderful Birthday Present
Anna R. writes to us from Haifa, Israel:
As a birthday present for my father’s 59th birthday, we invited Ensaf from Sindyanna to come and lead a Basket weaving workshop for our family. She brought authentic Middle Eastern food to share with us and all of the materials we needed to make our own handmade basket!
Ensaf shared the art of basket weaving with us and she patiently taught us to make our own small basket!! We had an amazing time… And best of all we each have our own basket to keep as a wonderful souvenir of our time together! What a unique and memorable afternoon!
Olive Oil Tasting Workshop
The Olive Oil Without Borders project organized an olive oil tasting workshop for arab women from the Galilee and the Palestinian occupied West Bank, including the team from our Kufr Kana warehouse. The workshop was led by Dr. Fathi Abdal Hadi.
Visitors from Palestine
30 palestinian women came to our visitor center to meet with members of our team. The women came from Nablus, Jenin and Kalqilya where they produce food items and handicrafts, supporting hundreds of families for whom this is their only source of income. The women shared stories about their work, their communities and the difficulties they are having in marketing their goods.
It was a moving experience for both sides. The Palestinian women were very excited about the work that Sindyanna has been doing, and were interested in learning basket weaving. The Manda team got a chance to meet more women who were looking to build their economic future through such initiatives. The visit was supported by the American Near East Foundation.
A Visit from LUSH Cosmetics
We were very happy to host Joe and Lindsey from LUSH Cosmetics a couple of weeks ago. They have been buying our Fair for Life olive oil and carob syrup for use in their fresh handmade cosmetics, especially in their famous Olive Branch Shower Gel. While at our visitors center they also had a chance to participate in a weaving workshop.
A Visit from the T’ruah Organization
In June we were happy to be visited by Joshua and Judy Bloom from T’ruah, an organization of rabbis from all streams of Judaism that acts on the Jewish imperative to respect and protect the human rights of all people. They came to our visitors center, our Scottish Grove near the village of Yafia (where they met Rev. Colin Johnston of the Tiberias Scottish Church), and met with Ibrahim Kilani, our fair trade honey producer from Yafia.
