Alsama Project

Alsama Project is an education organisation founded in 2020 and registered as a charity in the United Kingdom. It works in Lebanon together with its sister organisation there. It started in a single room in Shatila camp in Beirut, where 40 girls learned to read and write. Today around 1,100 young people, mainly teenagers forced to flee Syria, study at Alsama’s centres in Shatila, Bourj al-Barajneh and Homs. They complete 12 years of schooling in six and receive internationally recognised transcripts. 87% of the staff come from the local community. Alsama’s primary activities are education, wellbeing and creating income for the families around the schools. The most creative part of this work is Alsama Studio, a social enterprise founded in 2020. Around 50 women aged 20 to 45 work there as embroiderers, and many of them are mothers of Alsama students. They are skilled artisans who carry the embroidery traditions of Syria and Palestine and use them to create new work: handmade, unique pieces for fashion, home textiles and accessories. The Studio gives the women their own income and a workspace built around their lives, with weekly yoga and awareness classes. Profits are reinvested to employ more women. Alsama Studio is the partner in this project. Its embroiderers will share their craft and stories with Danish participants and create a joint textile work together.