Ma'an Lil Hayat

Ma’an Lil-Hayat (Together for Life), founded in 2009, is a community project in Bethlehem, Palestine that connects different communities by engaging in creative textile-arts activities in a workshop environment. It aims to break the stigma around intellectual disabilities by bringing together people experiencing intellectual disabilities from the camps and villages in Bethlehem. Through the craft-making activities, it fosters the development of self-esteem, creativity, decision-making, and more for its members.

Members of the group make felted wool ornaments, leather products, nativity scenes, and other unique gift items. All of the raw wool is sourced from women in the local villages surrounding Bethlehem. In addition to crafts, Ma'an Lil-Hayat provides meals and other daily social activities to create an even stronger sense of community.

Through their programs, people are encouraged to acknowledge their own strengths and to become more aware of the needs and realities of other people, while acquiring a stronger sense of personal and communal responsibility.

In a world that often looks with disdain on people with intellectual disabilities, Ma’an Lil-Hayat celebrates each person’s creativity, transparency, and great capacity for joy as important gifts to be shared.