This week, your inbox and social media feeds have probably been full of Black Friday and Cyber Week offers promising you huge savings and amazing value. Well, you might be disappointed to learn that you won’t find that here. We don’t do Black Friday, and here’s why:
We’re so passionate about what we do and would love to share our products with as many people as possible, but consumerism gone wild isn’t really our thing. If you buy any of our products in the Pink Jinn Souq – and of course, we’d be thrilled if you did – we want you to value the process, the materials, the hands that crafted them and the story behind them. Not to mention, the incredible artisans and craftsmen and women we have to thank for them.
We love that we’re able to support not only their precious work but also incredible charities in the Middle East and North Africa, and we would rather keep our prices consistent with the value of what we sell and sell to people who understand that value.
So if you’re looking for a cheap deal, no hard feelings if you want to look elsewhere. ✌🏽 But if you do decide to stick around and do some of your holiday shopping with us, we can promise you beautiful quality products that are inspired by the cultures of the region and support local people. You’d also be supporting a small, women-owned, impact-driven business – now that’s what we call bang for your buck!
So this week, to push back against the fast consumerism vibes taking over the internet right now, we want to invite you on a whistle stop tour of the Middle East and North Africa guided by our incredible partners, suppliers and charities in the region. We hope you enjoy and that you find some hope and inspiration from them and the beautiful work they do.
MOROCCO
Moor Morocco
Moor Morocco is a sustainable lifestyle brand that produces stunning Moroccan slippers, or ‘babouches’. Their gorgeous slippers are made with love and celebrate traditional Moroccan craftsmanship, with a modern twist. The company was founded by Maryam, in partnership with Moroccan artisan Simo Mohammed, who is based in Rabat and hand crafts Maryam’s designs. With their beautiful and unique designs, Moor Morocco celebrates nature, the art of craftsmanship and the beauty of knowing who made your goods.
We stock a limited range of Moor Babouches in the Pink Jinn Souq – click here to shop!
Project Soar Morocco
Project Soar is a charity based in Morocco and founded by designer, hotelier and philanthropist, Maryam Montague. They run educational programmes with vulnerable and marginalised adolescent girls, empowering them to become the leaders of tomorrow by helping them to understand their value, voice, body, rights and path. They have also recently begun running similar projects in Syria.
We donate 1/3 of the profits from our Maghreb collection to Project Soar – shop now to support their programmes!
PALESTINE
Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children
Atfaluna Society provides job opportunities and teaches new skills to deaf men and women in the Gaza Strip. They also provide educational activities for deaf Gazan children. Their products are handmade and reflect traditional Palestinian cultural heritage.
We now stock their beautiful cosmetic pouches in the Souq – shop now to support Gaza’s deaf community!
Zaytoun Social Enterprise
Zaytoun is a Community Interest Company founded to support Palestinian farmers through fair trade. They help local farmers navigate the everyday struggles of the occupation, which can often make it impossible for them to export their goods to the international market. Zaytoun connects consumers around the world with Palestine’s finest home-grown produce, supporting farmers and their families directly in the process.
We stock Zaytoun’s divine olive oil and medjool dates at our in-person pop-ups and markets on the Isle of Man. If you’re on the island, make sure you’re following us on Instagram to find out when our next events are.
JORDAN
Sitti Social Enterprise
Sitti Soap is a social enterprise based in Jordan that creates handmade, natural olive oil soap, inspired by traditional soap making in Palestine. The organisation brings fair-wage employment to Palestinian refugees in Jerash Refugee Camp in Jordan, with the aim of empowering and restoring hope to women refugees. They also employ local refugee women in Canada, where the management team are based.
We now stock Sitti’s beautiful Tatreez face masks in the Souq! They are handmade by Syrian refugee women in Canada. Click here to shop!
SYRIA
Made by Women
Made by Women is a social enterprise based in Damascus that was founded by Swiss-Syrian Rania Kinge. The organisation employs and up-skills Syrian women who lost their incomes to the civil war. They create beautiful textile and jewellery products which support the generation of continuous income for these women, helping them to sustain themselves and their families.
They made our beautiful Damascus and Palmyra clutch bags. Each one takes three days to make after three months of training. Click here to shop and support Damascene women survivors of conflict!
The Hands Up Foundation
Hands Up provide education for refugee children in the Bekaa Valley, salaries for health workers at a clinic in rural Aleppo, and prosthetic limbs to amputees on the Syrian-Turkish border. They have also been providing emergency response to support some of the world’s most vulnerable affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hands Up is one of our charity partners, and we donate 1/3 of the profits from our Balad Al-Sham collection to support their work. Click here to shop and click here to watch my interview with their founder, Rose Lukas, in which she tells the story behind the organisation.
TURKEY
Muhra Social Enterprise
Muhra is a social enterprise based in Istanbul that employs Syrian women who fled conflict in their home country and are rebuilding their lives in Turkey. They aim to represent the growth, strength and resilience of women all around the world. Through employing and up-skilling refugee women, Muhra creates beautiful, handmade craft products in collaboration with Turkish NGO, Small Projects Istanbul, which houses Muhra in its community centre.
We have collaborated with Muhra and their ‘Drop Earrings Not Bombs’ collection to design our own Cappadocia Drop Earrings. Click here to shop!
OMAN
Dine with Dina
Dina Macki is a British-Omani foodie who created a beautiful range of Fair Trade Omani spices inspired by her family’s heritage and cooking. She works directly with Omani farmers to ensure all her ingredients are grown sustainably and ethically, supporting the local community, environment and economy.
We stock Dina’s delicious Hibiscus Chilli Salt and Omani Zaatar blend in the Souq – click here to shop!
Sacra Soap
Sacra creates beautiful soap products and natural remedies inspired by ancient Arabian rituals. They use the highest quality ingredients, sourced ethically and sustainably from local Omani farmers.
We stock their beautiful soaps and Sacred Salve in the Souq – click here to shop!
YEMEN
Medina Coffee
Medina Coffee ethically and sustainably sources the finest quality speciality coffee beans from Yemen, the original home of coffee. Medina – who founded Medina Coffee – knows the farmers and their families personally and makes sure that they receive 65-75% of the proceeds of each of her sales. She also supports UNICEF Yemen’s work with children suffering the effects of the conflict in Yemen.
Click to shop Medina coffee and support Yemeni farmers and their communities!
Saba Relief
Saba Relief is a charity run by British-Yemenis that provides urgent humanitarian relief to survivors of conflict in Yemen. They are currently helping vulnerable children in Yemen by keeping them warm during the winter and providing crucial access to education.
We donate 1/3 of the profits from our Khaleej collection to Saba Relief to support their incredible work in Yemen – click here to shop!
