Aiming to give back to her community in Palestine, the 27-year-old Palestinian woman and immigrant in the United States, Afnan Isleem, has developed her sewing business to represent the Palestinian culture and empower women in Gaza.
Palestinians in the diaspora have been continuously trying to represent their home country Gaza in their own ways. More often than not, this representation happens through several forms of art, and to Isleem, this comes in the form of stitches that represent the Palestinian culture.
From watching her mother and her aunt stitch while growing up, Isleem was inspired to launch her own tailoring business. Right after graduating college in the United States, she started her business Balady Stitch as a means to serve her community in Gaza. Isleem’s journey was not one of a plain sailing one as she has encountered several obstacles on the way, especially after she immigrated to the United States at the age of 19.
“I didn’t feel like I belonged to Palestinian people who grew up in the U.S. or even to those women who immigrated for marriage, so it was quite hard fitting in,” she said. “I also didn’t make long-lasting friendships in college as I was the only Arab Muslim person in my class.”
Despite the odds, Isleem was able to flourish and develop her purposeful business. As her purpose behind the business is strictly inspired by the Palestinian culture, she wants to give the Palestinian community in the United States the chance to own a piece from back home. Additionally, Isleem’s business brings profit to around five to six women living in Gaza. In fact, she designs the items and sends them over to the women in her home country to bring the designs to life.
“I do the designs and the patterns and I choose the colors. Then, send them back home for the women to do the stitching,” Isleem told Kayani Project. “I’ve always wanted to do something that can benefit my community back home.”
Today, Isleem designs small pieces such as bookmarks and keychains that can be used for everyday life and are inspired by her life routine. She also chooses the prices of her products to be very reasonable as her main goal is to empower and inspire.
“The whole point of this project is to give people something that resembles their country and the experience of owning an item from Gaza, so I try to keep my prices lower than other places,” she mentioned.
Isleem wants the world to see the Palestinian culture and get a glimpse of Palestine via her designs. Through selling simple everyday items on her website and Instagram page, she is able to remind the Palestinian community in the diaspora of their home country through carrying the items wherever they go.
“Whenever I go out, I look at my keychain and I think: oh embroidery, oh women, oh Gaza, oh Palestine,” she added. “At the end, I want people to start conversations about Palestine, and I hope my items do that.”
Follow the link below to check Balady Stitch Shop by Afnan Isleem: