Stitches in time...

Whoever came up with the name Sleysla for the women’s craft center in Jeddah was inspired. It is a diminutive of the word “selsela,” a characteristic stitch used in most regions of the Kingdom from Makkah through the Hejaz and Aseer to the south. Furthermore, stitching together in the literal sense of craft products, is what happens in the center, where women from needy families learn to produce beautifully made and professionally presented traditional craft products. Equally or even more importantly, is the metaphorical conceit of stitching together not only careers but also garments of self-respect and self-sufficiency for families who might otherwise depend on charity for their existence. The Sleysla Heritage Center in Jeddah is part of the Alfaisalya Foundation. Headed by a sharply focused Princess Fahda Bint Saud Bint Abdulaziz, who is very much involved on a daily basis and has been since its inception in 1975, this is no “paste table and sympathy vote” charity. It is a huge, diverse organization determined to make a real difference to the less fortunate in society by training them in a variety of useful skills and returning them to the community as productive citizens. The majority of the output at the Sleysla center is rooted firmly in the craft traditions of the Kingdom. Palm-frond weaving and needlework dominate the product range but very often with a modern twist thrown in to give the crafts a current appeal. Alongside tables with groups of chatting women stitching together dolls and nimbly flashing needles to produce impossibly intricate embroidery sits a computer controlled embroidery machine manned — or perhaps more correctly womanned — by a very able operator. If a symbol was needed to demonstrate the stitching motif of bringing together past and present, surely this is it. The ancient tradition of palm-frond weaving has been taken to new heights with its use in exotic handbags and decorative item, which are now colored and finished in ways far from its origins. The foundation started in 1975 with the sewing section as it met the needs of the day, but it soon expanded. Its aim then, as now, was to provide a charity that gave people skills that would allow them to make a living. However, it soon expanded and a few years later, had divided into subsections, each headed by a committee. By 1980, the Social Work program was providing assistance to 3,000 families. “We send out our girls to investigate the needs of each family to check on employment or not, level of education and any jobs the children have, and then give them subsidies according to the needs of the family,” explained Princess Fahda. In the last seven years or so, there has been a paradigm shift from direct assistance to sustainable social development. “Now, we handle 2,000 families because we have training programs where we take the children of the families, train them and find them jobs,” said Princess Fahda. She added that the foundation was the link between the various institutions in the country, the companies and the needy families. “We train them here and put them into jobs.” She sees the reduction in numbers as a sign of success, as it means that the trainees are getting out into the community and creating wealth for themselves. “We, welfare institutions, have a lot of responsibility because we are in charge of the needy families — we help in the process of social development. The process has changed from handout to self-sustaining; it’s a non-stop process.” The challenges that the foundation takes on are subtler and much greater than putting people into the workforce. They involve a sea change in attitude to employment. Princess Fahda pointed out: “A process of acceptance — our charges, both men and women, take on jobs that would not be acceptable before. It is a challenge.” She believes that Saudis are traditionally proud people and are used to being their own masters, not working for others. “They find it very hard to work for others but there has been a change in society, a change of values,” she reflected.  “Coming back to our roots, they need jobs, they need to make a living. You cannot sit at home and wait for alms — this is not Islamic. If I go and spend on these families and their kids while they do not work, this also is un-Islamic.” Rather than just philosophize on the matter, Princess Fahda and the staff at the foundation approach the matter in an eminently practical fashion. The Sleysla Center is but one of the four administrative jurisdictions of the foundation and the tip of a very substantial iceberg. The three not immediately visible at the Sleysla center are those of social work, an Autistic center, the first to be established in the Middle East, and an orphanage. “Work is a source of pride, and now, the young generation have that in them. They are going out to look for work and this is what we are happy about,” she said. The members of staff in the foundation certainly apply themselves to the job and are justifiably proud. As a result, some 1,160 men have graduated from the society in Jeddah, 450 in the hotel sector, 150 salesmen, and 300 in the medical sector over a three-year period. Taught skills range from security management, carpentry, tourism skills and hotel service worker, through salesmen to medical management. “For the medical sector, they have years of training — one in English. There is also a two-year program in IT,” Princess Fahda explained. “Employers come to us and ask for specific skills and we channel them to our families. We advertise for people to join us, train them and put them into the market.” Although generously supported by state funds, which are set by the evaluation of its work, the society is like most charitable organizations: always short of funds. “We always need more than we get. We are a huge institution and we run at a loss. Even here, each student costs SR20,000 and the fees are SR30,000, so we have to fill that gap.” Both donations by local businessmen and sales of the handmade traditional crafts from the retail premises at the Sleysla center help enormously. Prevention is always far better than a cure. The work the Alfaisalya foundation engages in to create opportunities for the socially or physically disadvantaged to create their own futures and not slip into the “alms culture” is surely the most valuable of all stitches in time.