The village of Safawi is remote from the capital, Amman, and in part is a staging post for traffic travelling to and from Iraq. It is also a trading point for desert, nomadic Bedouin. However the status of livestock has suffered in recent years owing to climatic changes, influxes of large numbers of Iraqi sheep & goats, and overgrazing of the rangelands. Most of the Bedouin families have sold their sheep’s because of these issues and as a result many people, mostly men, have migrated away to find work leaving an increasingly female population. The fact that the Badia has a higher proportion of women within the community suggests that woman should be able to play a greater role in the region’s development.
Traditionally the Bedouin women have undertaken many of the demanding tasks such as shepherding the livestock, gathering firewood, baking the bread, doing the cooking, taking care of the children. She has also created basic tools for daily use, made domestic items such as pads, carpets, carry bags, covers, blankets etc. Today the lifestyle has fundamentally changed because they are living as a sedentary community.
Women in Al-Safawi are of Bedouin descent. Traditionally these women have been excluded from formal education and from participation in community decision-making by the male tribal leaders. As a result of a heavy patriarchal society the majority of women are illiterate and have never handled money and until recently there had been no focus for these women to meet and share their views.
When His Majesty King Abdullah II established IT centers around the country this provided an opportunity for people to learn new skills, especially women. The Safawi IT centre provided a much needed facility and an opportunity for women to meet, learn and discuss. At the same time they needed a crèche or kindergarten for their children.
Out of this grew the Women’s Co-operative with ideas to revive fading traditions, alleviate unemployment by producing traditional crafts and starting their own businesses, which it is hoped will also attract more visitors.
Women in Bedouin society currently work in isolation from each other and other parts of Jordanian society because of their traditional lifestyle. Bedouin families typically live separately from each other with little contact because in the past contact would have caused the spread of disease among the animals upon which they depended for their livelihood.
Safety for women is paramount to the Bedouin tradition. Girls are typically covered, and they are separated from boys starting at primary school, even for play. Some families are so protective that fathers or brothers accompany young women to work, sitting all day waiting for them to be finished. If there is one centre where women could go every day to learn and do their work and that would also provide child care, men in the community would support it. The Bedouin community believes in separated genders in most activities including study, work and even at home for meals.
Bedouin traditional crafts are little known to the world, yet rich in their unique practices. These traditions are being lost due to marginalization of people and require strong initiative to keep them alive and protected as an important part of Jordanian history. Some traditions include: unique embroidered and needlepoint designs on clothing, wedding rituals, herbal remedies, and Bedouin foods. Modern day Jordanians, especially young generations living within the Badia, have limited knowledge about their history and the traditional lifestyle practiced by their parents and grandparents. Sometimes they shun these practices with preference for more modern, westernized ideals.
Within the Badia communities, men are perceived as the dominant party and women as subordinate. To give a woman leadership in a Badia community she has to be independent financially so as to play a full part in her family life, and to make decisions. Financial independence will give her greater confidence in her decisions both economically and culturally by levelling the imbalance between men and women.
Currently women are not partners within the development process of the Badia communities. In those cases where women are allowed to be present at meetings held by government agencies they are there as observers rather than as participants in the process.
The Safawi Women’s Co-operative hopes to help to redress these issues.
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