The holiday season is a time to celebrate, count our blessings, cherish our loved ones, and show compassion to others. This year, consider supporting Kuchinate’s efforts to empower and support African asylum-seeking mothers in South Tel Aviv.
Founded in 2011, Kuchinate, which means “to crochet” in the Eritrean language of Tigrinya, is a collective of over 300 of the most vulnerable asylum-seeking mothers in South Tel Aviv. The women earn a fair wage by creating hand-made baskets, masks, and other products that are sold in Kuchinate’s studio, as well as at venues throughout Israel.
With unemployment close to 80%, the current economic, social, and health implications of COVID-19 are particularly punishing to the African asylum-seekers in Israel. Fears for food and housing security are rising.
Kuchinate women are survivors -- of trafficking, domestic abuse, and torture. They are working harder than ever as the pandemic poses ongoing challenges. Help us make sure every member of our community has enough food to eat and a safe place to live throughout this crisis.
Any amount can help. Below, we’ve put into perspective just how much your donation can do at Kuchinate:
- With $10: Kuchinate can purchase string to make five Kokob style baskets, providing a wage of $25 for the artisan
- With $15: A Kuchinate artisan can create and receive a wage for three masks that will be donated to members of the asylum-seeking community in South Tel Aviv
- With $20: Kuchinate can give a blanket to an asylum-seeking woman for Christmas
- With $25: Kuchinate can give a space heater to a kuchinate woman and her family for Christmas
- With $50: Kuchinate can hold a traditional coffee ceremony, called a “Buna Talk,” that provides refreshments and a welcoming environment for asylum-seeking women to gather and share their stories, which acts as a form of therapy
- With $75: Kuchinate can hold a communal, hot, and healthy lunch for 30 women
- With $100: Kuchinate can purchase enough string for an artisan to make ten Hagus style baskets, providing her with a wage of $225
- With $125: Kuchinate can register one woman for a 12-session english course
- With $150: Kuchinate can cover an after-school child care coordinator for one month
- With $200: Kuchinate can provide a personal sewing machine for a woman to do sustainable, capacity-building work from home during the coronavirus pandemic
- With $300: Kuchinate can provide a laptop for an asylum-seeking family. This is especially valuable during the coronavirus pandemic, during which most asylum-seeking children have to attend school virtually
- With $500: Kuchinate can provide ten therapy sessions for one asylum-seeking woman
- With $750: Kuchinate can sponsor one year of health insurance for one asylum-seeking woman
This holiday season, give the gift of empowerment to asylum-seeking mothers in South Tel Aviv.
Read more about Kuchinate here
