Project Location: Beitin, Aboud & Al-Jib 

Project Duration: One year, July 2008 – July 2009 

Funded by: U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP).

Total Budget: 69.680US$

Project Justification and goals: Unstable political conditions in the Palestinian Areas in the past, and espicially since the beginning of the current uprising "intifada", resulted in tremenous dammage to the regions cultural heritage. Illegal digging and sale of antiquities has become a wide spread phneomenon, and as a consequence of that much destruction has been inflected on many of the world famous historic siteas and monuments in the country. This phenomenon has in recent years become so common in the West Bank and particulalry in the targeted villages which are major historic sites with rich cultural resources. Furthermore, and due to the collapse of the tourism sector, valuable traditional crafts and handicrafts have been abandoned by the public, something that has contriputed to the loss of valuable cultural traditions.  

2- Documenting Palestinian British Mandate Police Force

Total Budget: 77820US$

Duration: Jan. 2008 – July 2009.

The project entails training of handicraftsmen and women from the targeted villages on the techniques of producing high quality handicrafts. This will help those women generate income and will help PACE insure steady and adequate supply of such products for its exhibitions and world wide disruption network. The project will also enable PACE to establish and implement a quality control system of various handicraft products such as good quality olive oil soap, basketry, rugs, leather products. This will enable the producers as well as PACE itself become more self sufficient, and more relevant to the community.Project partners:The project is targeting 210 producers of traditional handicrafts from 7 different Palestinian villages in the Ramallah area to help them develop their expertise further and enable them to market their products in the local as well as the international markets. - Deir Ghasaneh:  Deir Ghasaneh Women Center.- Qarawa Bani Zaid:  Rural Women’s Development Society  - Qarawa Bani Zaid.  - Atara:   Atara Women’s Charitable Cociety.- Rantis: Rantis Women’s Charritale Society.    - Mazra’ah al-Gharbieh: Mazra’ah al-Gharbieh Women’s Cooprative. - Mazare’ al-Nubany: Rural Women Cooperative for Saving and Credit.- Dair Jarir: Deir Jarir Women Society for Development .The targetted producers are for the most part poor rural women who are the main providers for their families. Many of them are either widows or wives of unemployed men, earning their living from producing handicrafts and selling them in the local market. The seven targeted villages are quite margenalised and have been further hard hit by the very difficult political and economic situation in the country, espicially since the beginning of the current Intifada in 2000. Those villages; however, have great potentials and diverse expertise that the project will capitalize on. Their craftsmen and women are reputed for the production of diverse traditional handicrafts of good quality.

Project administration and staff:

Project Coordinator: Lina Hashem.

Local coordinator: Thaer Attari.

Local coordinator: Abeer Kusa.

Trainers:

1- Ms. Sharifa Yosef Ali : Basketry from wheat straws.     

2- Mr. Issa Abdullah: Copper plating.    

3- Mr. Muhamad Khalil Mustafa: Basketry from olive branches.    

4- Mr. Mahmoud Ahmad Ubayda: Traditional Soap.    

5- Mr. Thaer Ibrahim Irjeleh: Soap making.    

6- Ms. Aminah Zahran: Jewelry.    

7- Ala' MArwan Hamad: copper plating.    

8- Ms. Naimeh Ibrahim Zaiad – pottery.    

9- Ms. Khulud Taher Rayan – Traditional soap.    

10- Ms. Amneh Husni – Embroidery.    

11- Ms. Rania Rizaq Ihmidat – Taditional Dolls. 

A local coordination committee has been formed in each of the villages to coordinate the work and help the project administration in implementating the projects' activities. It is constituted of the director of the local partner organization, an appointed local coordinator and a representative of the village council or another civil society organization in the locality such as youth club or senior citizen’s association. The project coordinators attended all meetings of the local coordinating committee and reported the activities to PACE and the project director. The local coordinating committee was charged with choosing local trainees, providing training facility, monetoring and evaluating training, production and distripution in coordination with the project coordinators and director.     

Project activities & time plan: After the initial month of preparations which has also included choosing the trainees in coordination with the local partners, purchasing the necessary equipment, materials and contracting the trainers, the training courses began in the different localities. Two to three training courses were offered in each village depending on the requirements and needs of the village and partner organizations. Training courses went on for a period of three – four months in each of the villages, and the training was monitored by the local committees and the project staff, who have organize regular weekly visits to the villages. Each training course will be made of 10 or more sessions varying from 2 to 4 hours.  The training courses will be followed by courses in marketing to the trainees including interventions related to design, size, colouring, pricing, sale and distribution of handicrafts, as well as acquiring access to new local and foreign markets. This includes offering producers the opportunity to exhibit their products at PACE’s permanent exhibition, local exhibitions, exhibits abroad, as well as through PACE’s international distribution network and home page. Upon the completion of the training, graduates of those courses will be required to produce good quality handicrafts in their respected crafts under the supervision of the trainers and the project team, for a period of three months. They will have to adhere to PACE quality control procedures, and will be allowed to use the equipment and raw materials that have been purchased for the purposes of the project. All products will then be labelled, documented and exhibited in preparations for marketing them by different means so that the sustainability of the project would be assured.

Project Achievements:

1- The project helped alleviate poverty and unemployment in Palestinian rural areas that have been stricken by the current unstable political and economic situation through the provision of the necessary training for 140 producers of handicrafts in seven villages. This has opened new job opportunities in those villages especially for women and the youth.

2- The project enhanced the quality of production and effectiveness of the implementing local organizations.

3- It has also improved the sales of handicrafts products through the different exhibitions that have been organized, and the distribution networks that were found. 

4- Improved networking between the different local producers and distributors of handicrafts.

Sustainability of the project: Developing the quality and quantity of handicrafts will enable local producers of handicrafts to meet the expectations of the local and international markets. Once the producers attain this degree of excellence we are confident that their products will be in great demand locally and internationally. Production of high quality handicrafts is in fact a need for PACE and other Palestinian distributors of handicrafts. There should be no doubt that the producers will continue to produce after the completion of this project to meet market demand on such products which has always been there. The implementing organization, PACE will also continue to help the producers market their products locally and internationally through its permanent exhibit, local and international exhibitions as well as the organization’s international distribution network.