Celebrating 50 years | God • World • Human Family • Church
Weaving Economic Development Into a Bedouin Tradition
A weaving project in the Negev jump-starts an ages-old tradition and provides desperately needed income to the area’s nomads.
Karen Lagerquist
A Bedouin woman spins wool. (photo: Karen Lagerquist)
The richly colored fleece is hung out to dry in the hot desert sun. (photo: Karen Lagerquist)
Women at work on their looms. The relaxed atmosphere allows for plenty of social interaction. (photo: Karen Lagerquist)
Miriam who works the project’s shop, helps a visitor from Iowa choose a rug. (photo: Karen Lagerquist)
It was outside a shepherds tent, near the sand and dust of the Negev desert, that God chose to establish a relationship with the people of earth. From this remote location, approximately 4,000 years ago, Abraham became the father of three faiths: Jewish, Christian and Muslim.
Under tents not so different from Abrahams, in a place known as Laqiya, the Pontifical Mission for Palestine has been supporting a unique weaving project for Arab
Karen Lagerquist is a frequent contributor to Catholic Near East.