Ma'an Lil-Hayat

Products: Felt products from local sheep wool
Beneficiaries: 8 women and men with intellectual disabilities from villages and refugee camps in the Bethlehem area

Ma'an Lil-Hayat means 'together for life' in Arabic, and is the newest partner of Sunbula. Founded in August 2009 as a project of the International Federation of L'Arche Communities, Ma'an Lil-Hayat brings together people with and without intellectual disabilities to share life through work, celebration and mutual relationships of friendship and trust.

Ma'an Lil-Hayat currently provides daily social activities, craft production and meals for 8 people with intellectual disabilities from refugee camps and villages of the Bethlehem area. Through community life and work, Ma'an Lil-Hayat seeks to foster the development of self-esteem and creativity, the ability to make choices, and the active participation in a learning environment.

Ma'an Lil-Hayat is the first and only project in Palestine that produces felt crafts from natural sheep wool. They purchase wool from local shepherds in Bethlehem, and undertake the entire process of wool-making from cleaning the wool, carding, dyeing, felting, and drying. The result is a collection of unique and adorable items, including the nativity scene, Christmas ornaments, toys for children, and accessories.

Responding to an overwhelming need in the community for the type of support it provides to the people with disability and their families, Ma'an Lil-Hayat strives to raise the capacity of its social workers and specialists, and to steadily increase the number of people it serves.

Contact Ma'an Lil-Hayat
Mahera Gharib, Director
Antonian Society Road
PO Box 182, Bethlehem
West Bank, Palestine
Telefax: (+972) 02-274-3345
arche.bethlehem@gmail.com

Making of the felt - the carding of sheep wool that arrived from local shepherds.

As the wool is rubbed in warm soapy water, scales of its fiber catch on each other and causes shrinkage, transforming the wool to a dense mat.

The rubbing is also done with a mold, according to the shape of items created.

After different pieces of felt are attached together to form an item, they are left to dry before packaging.