In today’s perilous climate of worldwide conflicts and war, the affront on human rights grows more intense by the day. As a citizen of the world, I wanted to find some small way to help those suffering through the refugee crisis. Under the umbrella of Rosena Sammi Jewelry, I have launched a pilot project with the Safadi Foundation, a non-governmental organization located in Lebanon, to help refugees help themselves find some measure of peace and stability.

 

One in four Syrian refugee families in Lebanon are headed by women who are forced to work to support their families – their husbands having been killed, captured or disappeared. This vulnerable group of women, who include refugees from Syria, Lebanon and Palestine, are not fighting for any cause or ideology, but rather only for a better life.

I have worked with these women living in host communities in Lebanon – located in the poorest areas and torn by conflict.  These women seek only to be empowered, to contribute, to find a way forward.  Perhaps we all can help in some small way.  Together with the Safadi Foundation, which provides training in basic skills, I employed these women and we created a “common piece”—a wool infiniti scarf, hand knitted by these courageous women.  These pieces are an example of what can come from a place of desperation when there is hope.  It is my hope that a common piece is one small step towards "a common peace”.  Please join us in supporting these women.

To learn more about the incredible work of the Safadi Foundation visit fb/SafadiFoundation

To purchase these scarves and see how employment and empowerment of these women has created something beautiful, please visit our "A Common Peace" Collection. 

 

 

Images courtesy of: UNHCR/A.McConnell; The Safadi Foundation; Rosena Sammi Jewelry.