Between the year 2011 and 2017, nearly 700,000 people have officially registered as Syrian refugees in Jordan.
A country of only 9,5 million people.
Transitioning Jordanian women and refugees into jobs is a great challenge.
Therefore, IKEA and Jordan River Foundation are collaborating to make a difference.
We experienced bombings and battles, my uncle and aunt died in front of us.
They were right next to us.
and then we went from Homs through the mountains,
until we reached the Jordanian border.
We live here. My husband can't work here.
If they catch him working, they might arrest him or deport him.
He doesn't have a work permit, and no one will give him a permit.
Our situation is not so good.
My dream is to raise our children and have a good life,
that's it.
The vision for the partnership and the collaboration
between IKEA and Jordan River Foundation
is that we shall create livelihoods for hundreds of women in Jordan.
Hundreds of refugees, mainly from Syria.
We want to do this through a business collaboration
where we create beautiful, designed handmade pieces.
The organization focuses on women in less privileged areas,
and that's why our aim is really to reach out to these women
who are in need for such services, regardless of if they are Jordanian or Syrian.
It's a very sustainable way to help people
to help people to get a livelihood.
We believe that the best way out of poverty and exclusion
is to have a decent job.
I love my work. Others say it's difficult.
But I love this job.
Even when I go travel with my family, I take my work with me.
Sometimes we sit in a beautiful place under the trees and I work.
I raise my children on my own. I have been divorced for five years.
To work in Amman as a mother raising my children
is very, very difficult.
This is the only job that guarantees my income
I am happy being a seamstress.
For this collection we are looking into products like cushions.
We also want to do a couple of different floor cushions.
It's something that they really want and have asked for.
I think I like the ones
where I see that the ladies really connect with the design.
They are really connected with the hands and the eyes. Especially the eyes.
They were talking about how they decorate themselves for weddings...
And how the Bedouin women had the pompoms here on the side.
So those are my favorite ones.
This craft was practiced by our mothers and grandmothers.
They were the ones who practiced it and not the men.
The women used to weave the fabrics for the tents
and the rugs for their houses.
They were the ones who did all that.
The women were responsible for cooking, weaving,
these kind of things.
and the women who work, change their lives.
The weight of the women, she has additional income,
in addition to the existing income, if there is one at all.
The ladies have fantastic skills. They are almost made out of gold.
They inherited all these skills from their great-great-grandmothers.
They are really good at it. The way we work with them, we guide them.
Or we give them some sort of direction to create new products.
Products that fit in the world that we live in now.
A traditional taste, let's say, but with a modern twist.
When we finish this project
I want to take the ladies to go to one of the IKEA branches and see their products.
I can't wait to see their reaction and to see their faces
when they see their products displayed in IKEA stores.
My hope is
that the customers really will like the products and that they will buy them,
but also that they are interested in the story behind them,
and, obviously, that we are giving more people a good job.
My dream is for this program to continue.
I hope it will never end,
because this is an authentic Jordanian craft that maintains our identity,
and i hope it enters global markets
So I can be proud.
I am a person who never gives up.
But really, my main source of income is sewing
and I'm proud at my job.