There it was, staring back at me from the computer screen…..Jordan….The Giving Lens…photographers Colby Brown and Ken Kaminesky ….travel, photography workshops, giving back to the community.
Jordan…a place I had always wanted to visit….the realisation of a dream….how could I not go!
The Giving Lens is the creation of photographer extraordinaire Colby Brown to combine travel, photography and giving back to the community. On each trip, time is spent with an organizsation chosen by Colby and part of the cost of the trip is given to the community as a donation. This year Ken Kaminesky joined Colby in leading our group ..
In Jordan, the Iraq Al-Amir Women’s Co-Operative Society, which focuses on empowering women through job skills and training, was the beneficiary.
The Iraq Al-Amir Women’s Co-Operative Society was founded in 1993 by the Noor Al-Hussein Foundation, headed by Queen Noor, who originally saved the building from demolition and under the support of the Swiss Government set about restoring the ten buildings that make up the Co-Operative as well as adding a showroom.
Views of the Iraq Al-Amir Women’s Co-Operative Society
Clever planning by The Giving Lens meant we arrived in time to enjoy a delicious lunch prepared by the women. A tasty chicken and rice dish known as Kabsa arrived and just as quickly disappeared.
Mint tea, chicken kabsa and familiar soft drinks
Fifty women were originally chosen to learn the skills of weaving, paper work and pottery. Learning these skills took three years and eventually they opened to the public in 1966. The Noor Al Hussein foundation later dissolved and the women had to fund themselves. In 2001, they became the Iraq Al-Amir Women’s Co-Operative Society with the purpose of keeping their culture alive, protecting the environment and supporting the ladies from the village.
The small village of Al Amir suffers from high unemployment as there are no government offices nearby so for some of the women, the wages they earn here are relied upon by their families. Most of the women were in their twenties when they started so they have either retired or are about to retire but their job skills have been learnt by a new group of women eager to work.
Wandering from one room to another, we could see the women working on their handmade crafts.
Pottery
Working the wheel!
Making pottery fish
Weaving
Weavers at work
Paper Making
Hand making paper and the finished product!
Scenes from a workroom!
We visited the Women’s Society twice and each time the children of the village captivated our hearts. They would rush to greet us and were very happy for us to take their photographs. One proud father bought his child over to chat to us in English.
Their beautiful, wide eyed innocence will be the subject of another post!
The children of the Al-Amir Village.
Our second visit was for the purpose of taking photographs of their products that could be used for further marketing projects.
Some of the hand made crafts made by the beautiful women at the Iraq Al-Amir Women’s Co-Operative Society
Chatting to the women (with the help of Mohammed, our guide) provided a few insights.
The women realise that mistakes were initially made. Not many of the women speak english, they did not have any marketing experience and they could have benefited from the input of a designer.
Tourism in Jordan has declined and visitors to the centre have diminished. This has impacted on the group’s budget so much so that they now have a large deficit. Neither their rent nor wages have been paid for over a year. This in turn affects everyone as a lot of families rely on the wage.
The good news is that our donation to the group will be used to help pay this rent arrears. It would be sad to see the Co-Op close as the benefits spread all through the village.
For us, our visit to the Iraq Al Amir Women’s Co-Operative Society certainly provided an insight into life in a small village in Jordan and the difficulties they face.
Colby and Ken with the women of the Iraq Al-Amir Women’s Co-Operative Society
This year The Giving Lens is offering similar trips to Nicaragua, Peru, Tanzania and a few more places that are yet to be announced. If you are tempted to go on one, all I can say is GO! You will not regret it
What are you waiting for?….Check out their web site: The Giving Lens
Do you like to be able to give something back to the community when you travel?
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I love to travel! I love exploring the markets, trying new tastes and finding fabulous restaurants so this blog is also about food!
I'd love to think that by sharing my stories, you will be able to add new experiences to your dream trip or simply enjoy the escape with us
Happy travelling.
This is a great summary and description of the trip to Jordan with The Giving Lens. I had the same reaction – photography, great sights, and giving back? How awesome! I was so glad I went on this trip. Jenny, your pictures from the Women’s Cooperative are just beautiful and really highlight the beautiful artwork they produce!!
Thanks Kathy. It really was a trip of a lifetime wasn’t it.I loved travelling with you and all the other TGLJordaners! Meeting the women at the Co-Op and seeing what the beautiful things they made was so interesting and a great introduction to another side of life in Jordan.
Hi luv! I’ve been trying for the last couple of weeks to get on to comment but I couldn’t for some reason. On a whim I tried again today and I’m in!!!
I love that you were able to do this trip. What an incredible opportunity!!! I love the pictures of those amazing, amazing women. 
Thanks for persevering Krista. I wonder why you couldn’t comment previously. It really was a fabulous opportunity..I loved every minute of it. Meeting the women and seeing how they live was fascinating.
I have been waiting for this post to appear, and I am not disappointed. What a wonderful trip and what wonderful photos you have taken. It is a fantastic post, and good on you for persuing your Jordan dream and helping out a worthy cause at the same time. I am going back to have another look at the collages!
Thanks Jan. It was a a fabulous trip and I’ve only just started writing about it. It is a great idea of The Giving Lens to include these opportunities in their trips.
Jenny, I love, love, love this post. Wonderful photos. I especially love the ones of the women, and the child holding the big bunch of radishes. And I love that you could combine your love of travel and photography with giving back to those who need a helping hand.
Thanks Karene. It truly was a fabulous trip. Meeting the women was an interesting part of the trip…an insight into life in a small village in Jordan. I’d love to do another trip!
What a simply fantastic post!
Thanks Jackie. It was a small but important part of a fabulous trip!
Thank you for the interesting article! As always, I enjoyed viewing the pictures…
Thanks Lili. It was great to learn about the women’s lives in this small village and how they survive.
What an interesting experience that had to be. Love the photos.
So many elements combined to make this an amazing experience Karen. Jordan was a fascinating country.
Really great to read more about the back story of your trip to Jordan. I strongly believe the empowerment of women through education and the freedom to work is one the most important steps towards shortening the gaps of poverty.
It’s sad that tourism to Jordan has declined, when it really is a desert of tranquillity amongst the storm, at the moment. I am still amazed at how friendly and welcoming all the Jordanians are! Love your photos of the children Jenny.
Thanks Shing. What was fascinating was the Queen Noor-Hussein Foundation had the foresight to establish the Iraq Al-Amir Women’s Co-Operative Society in 1963, to do exactly this. The sad thing its that even though the women are more than willing to work, the decline in toursim is now affecting them. As you well know, it is stunning country and hopefully people reading our blogs will be inspired to travel there and learn for themselves what a safe country Jordan is and how beautiful the people are.
Most have been a wonderful experience – and love your photos, so colourful and with such creative angles.
It was a fabulous experience Sophie. Meeting the women of the village and taking photos of the handicrafts was fun.
Loved this post! What a wonderful experience this must have been. I really loved all of the goods these women make and oh those children. Must have made your heart swell to be part of this. Thanks for sharing this wonderful story!
Thanks Debbie. It was a lovely feeling that we were actually doing something to help them. This is why I loved travelling with the Giving Lens. To include giving back to the community in their philosophy is heartwarming.
It sounds like a wonderfully, rewarding experience. Their wares are beautiful.
It was a fabulous trip Tonya, in so many ways and fascinating to see what the women were doing.
What a wonderful initiative and what an amazing trip it must have been, and your photography skills are going from strength to strength. I loved all the photos, but I particularly liked the one of the wide eyed child and the radishes.
The children in the village captured our hearts Jo. It was a great trip. I’d love to do another with TGL!
Such a great experience to see Jordan through these photos and what a great opportunity to give back. Love these photos, Jenny! Their products are absolutely beautiful! I wish I had the time and money – Tanzania would be at the top of the list for my dream trip.
It was a great opportunity to combine travel, photography and giving back to the community Mary.Tanzania is fabulous and to go with TGl would be brilliant. It’s certainly worth keeping on the dream list!
These women are very skilled but don’t have any marketing experience because they are not educated. Jorden is full of skills but less of educaion. Really, Jenny you clicked some nice shots during your visit.
Thanks Peter. What you say is true. They realise that they are lacking in marketing experience but without any income at the moment, they can not pay for it. Originally they had the support of the Queen Noor Foundation but now they are totally reliant on people like TGL to offer support.Ig is a vicious circle!
What a great way to see the country and I bet you learned a lot about photography too. Those women will forever be appreciative of your visit and donation – and for their sakes I hope tourism markedly improves. Great photos of their work. I bet you ended up buying a few pieces too.
Thanks Leigh. It was a great trip from all points of view.The country is beautiful and hopefully the photography will improve!
Jenny, thank you so much for making me aware about The Giving Lens and its cause. I have checked its website as soon as I read your post. I’m interested in its cause and would love to join one of its project someday.
Your photos and coverage of the women’s cooperative in Jordan are beautiful and touching. I love Jordan and its people and would love to see its small businesses survive, especially those run by women.
My pleasure Marisol. The combination of travel, photography and giving back to the community is perfect. Seeing Jordan with them was so much fun and it was great to know that the women’s cooperative benefited from our visit. I have no hesitation in recommending a trip with them. You’ll have a fabulous time.
Such a wonderful idea! I must admit, this type of trip is right up my street. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for easier to reach trips in the future. Will spread the word, too
Hi Linda. It was a fabulous trip, one you would love. They have eleven trips planned for this year and some of them are in Asia…so close, so there’s no excuse! I can certainly highly recommend them to anyone thinking about going. Thanks for spreading the word. There were two Aussies on this trip (including me) ..the first TGL have had which was exciting for them!
What a great idea of a photography course that gives back! You certain capture the emotions and hard work of these women. I love all of the colors.
Thanks Suzy. It certainly is a great way to travel. The women do work hard… it’s such a shame that they are struggling at the moment.
What a lovely way to spend time in another country. I need to look into the Giving Lens more since I hadn’t heard of it until just now. Beautiful photos–make me want to go to Jordan even more than before!
It was a great way to travel Jenna. I can certainly recommend their trips. In fact they have another to Jordan later this year!!
Lovely photos and insight into a side of Jordan most bloggers don’t cover.
Thanks Jennifer. It was a pretty special trip and to be able to spend time with the women’s group certainly gave us an insight into their life.