ACCESSORIES, handmade flower necklaces, pastries, handmade clothes and different kinds of everyday items are on display at a three-day bazaar held by the First Women’s Welfare Society in their headquarters. The bazaar, entitled “The Arabian Festival for Productive Families” supports poor families and wants to bring their plights to the attention of society.
“The point of this festival is our productive families. We want them to learn how to earn money and to be independent rather than dependent,” said Nisreen Al-Edrisi, the society’s director.
Several charity organizations and societies are participating and all have the aim of supporting poor families. The Special Needs Society, Zamzam Charity for medical voluntary services, Herafia Society for handicrafts and many others are cooperating with the First Women’s Welfare Society and each organization is sponsoring two families as participants.
“We approached several societies to be part of this event. We want to encourage productive families and at the same time promote them,” added Al-Edrisi. She also said that this was the third year the event had been held; she described it as “community and family bonding.”
Some 25 families are taking part in the bazaar. Some of the participants are families supported by the First Women’s Welfare Society who have been taught embroidery and sewing by the society. Handmade items, such as tablecloths and teapot covers, are sold. “We were trained here and they provided us with material and sewing machines and now we are selling them,” said one of the girls selling the items.
The bazaar principally targets school students in order to encourage them to do social work and take on social responsibility. “We approach all schools, governmental and private. We contacted universities and colleges as well,” said Al-Edrisi. Some families are pleased with their sales while others are not. Some sold nothing on the first day but Al-Edrisi believes it’s an experience that they will learn from.
“We give some families a small loan so they can start making their items and they give back the money lent when they are done,” Al-Edrisi said.
The women in the bazaar are enthusiastic about the whole experience. An old woman was selling flower necklaces; another was selling face lotion and make-up. The bazaar also has a section doing henna hand designs and drawings on children’s faces.
The bazaar has an on-stage awareness lecture for students to teach girls about the importance of social and volunteer work in society. The bazaar opened on Sunday and runs until Tuesday.
