In the tranquil village of Al Dieseh in Wadi Rum, nine young women have been given the opportunity to unleash their creative skills and earn an income by producing ceramic items that will be sold to locals and tourists alike. These women are employed by Al Dieseh Cooperative at the organization’s new ceramic workshop. Muna Abdullah Al Zawayda is the workshop supervisor as well as one of the craftswoman who produce ceramic items for the cooperative.

“The new workshop has created work opportunities for us that we didn’t have before,” says Muna, on behalf of herself and other young women within her community. Muna has been working at the new ceramic workshop for the past eight months, most of which so far has entailed training on the art of making and decorating ceramics. For Muna, this job has not only given her the chance to use her skills and build on them, but she’s also been given the opportunity to work and earn an income; something that is new to most Bedouin women.

The ceramic workshop at Al Dieseh Cooperative was opened a year ago, and currently employs the nine women from the local community fulltime. These women, like Muna, have received eight months of training on the traditional way of making and decorating ceramics, and will soon begin to produce items for sale to both the local and tourist markets.

USAID/Siyaha supported Al-Dieseh Cooperative in securing support from the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation-funded Qudorat Program (managed by the Noor Hussein Foundation) to establish a ceramics production workshop, as well as providing training to support the production. This support has an estimated value of JD35,000 in equipment and training. Over the next six months, funding from a USAID/Siyaha grant (which was awarded to the cooperative in October 2006) will be used towards continuing operations at the workshop. In addition, more technical and financial support will be dispensed to develop new products, buy materials, training, purchase new equipment, and support salaries for the working women. The funding will also go towards renovations at the ceramic workshop to include a display room for the products.

The cooperative was established in 1996, starting out with 400 members, and it now has 1000. Members provide various tourism services ranging from desert transport, including 4x4 vehicles and camels, to campsites, and now handicrafts. Handicraft production was introduced recently to provide opportunities for women to work and empower them within their community.

“Now 45% of our members are women,” says Abdel Aziz Zawayda, who is manager of Al Dieseh Cooperative. “We worked with Siyaha with the aim of getting women out of the home and support them in playing a bigger role within the community.” He adds, “It was difficult to do this at first, but once young girls in the area saw others working, they were encouraged.”

Al Dieseh Cooperative now employs the largest number of women in Wadi Rum, and working with USAID/Siyaha and other partners, it has made available new opportunity to the women of the local community, providing them with IT and management training, as well as teaching them a new craft, so that they can now help supporting their families.

For Muna, the job has opened up a new world, as she has learnt a new craft and is earning an income to contribute to her household. She is so pleased with her new job, that she even wishes the same for her younger sister. “When my sister finishes her studies I will encourage her to take up crafts too.”