Oshana

Oshana Handmade homeware and fashion. Transforming Syrian women’s lives one stitch at a time

You buy, we gift. When you buy one of these lovable teds, we give a toy to a Syrian or Palestinian refugee child, many o...
03/12/2025

You buy, we gift. When you buy one of these lovable teds, we give a toy to a Syrian or Palestinian refugee child, many of whom have no playthings at all.

Profits go to the Syrian and Palestinian refugee women who lovingly crochet these adorable bunnies by hand. This is a dignified income that puts roofs over heads, food in mouths, sends children to school, and brings women together in a supportive community.

Truly a gift that gives many times over. And cute too 🌸🐰🌼

Arrives in time for Christmas 🎁

Palestinian embroidery tells a story of existence, of a deep connection to the land, of trauma and displacement and war....
29/11/2025

Palestinian embroidery tells a story of existence, of a deep connection to the land, of trauma and displacement and war. It is a story of nationhood in the face of genocide.

Images:
1. Late 1800s - a woman wears a dress whose embroidery tells us she is from Ramallah. Every village had its own embroidery motifs that told a story of a deep connection to place - stitching the plants and landscapes of home into the fabric of life.

2. In the late 1980s, during the first intifada (uprising) against occupation, Israel banned the Palestinian flag. Women embroidered it onto their very dresses.

3. 2000 - 2010s. Girl's dress from Rafah museum, Gaza. Rafah museum was targeted by Israeli bombardments early in the current genocide. When their collection was bombed, this dress was thrown onto a roof and rendered inaccessible for months. And yet it survives and persists.

4, 5 and 6 - screenshots from article by Salma Dabbagh in the London Review of Books today.

Support Syrian & Palestinian refugee women this Christmas. Everything we do at Oshana is hand-embroidered, hand-crochete...
22/11/2025

Support Syrian & Palestinian refugee women this Christmas. Everything we do at Oshana is hand-embroidered, hand-crocheted, and hand-made by displaced women living in harsh circumstances in Lebanon. We provide a dignified income, a supportive community, and a creative outlet for trauma. We change lives. Oh - and our pieces are stunning! 🌷🌸💖

Rama Duwaji chose Palestinian embroidery to wear as her husband, Zohran Mamdani, was elected as New York City Mayor. We ...
05/11/2025

Rama Duwaji chose Palestinian embroidery to wear as her husband, Zohran Mamdani, was elected as New York City Mayor. We LOVE this.

Born to Syrian parents in the US, is a Syrian illustrator and animator based in Brooklyn, NYC. For her debut appearance as New York's first lady, she wore a top by Palestinian-Jordanian designer , featuring stylish black on black 'tatreez' (Arabic embroidery).

As Vogue Arabia says, fashion has long served as a tool for political expression. Here perhaps it is also a tool for personal, human, and artistic expression. Few crafts are more central to our Syrian and Palestinian heritage than tatreez, which has been passed down through the generations from mother to daughter across the region. Surely this is a statement of identity and solidarity.

In Duwaji's artist bio, it says 'Using drawn portraiture and movement, Rama examines the nuances of sisterhood and communal experiences' - sounds pretty much what we do at Oshana! We can't wait to see more of her 💖🌹

Handmade by Syrian and Palestinian refugee women in Lebanon, who receive all of the profits of their work. In the words ...
16/10/2025

Handmade by Syrian and Palestinian refugee women in Lebanon, who receive all of the profits of their work.

In the words of our artisan Nadine: "This work is therapy as much as it is financial support. We love being together, and the day I go to the centre and see the other women is a happy day. My husband is a political prisoner, and this work helps me earn my living, support my children, and buy them everything they need.”

Our parent charity is looking for two people to join our small, friendly and committed team in Lebanon. Summaries below...
01/10/2025

Our parent charity is looking for two people to join our small, friendly and committed team in Lebanon. Summaries below, applications and more info via links in bio.

*Finance Manager*
⏱️ 2 days per week
🐝 Role purpose: to lead on developing and maintaining our financial and organisational systems. This role will be key in ensuring transparent financial management, compliance with donor requirements, and smooth implementation of projects.
Requirements include:
💎 Minimum of 5 years of experience in finance, accounting, or a related field (preferably within NGOs).
✍🏼Proficiency in English and Arabic (spoken and written).

*MEAL Coordinator*
(Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Coordinator)
⏱️ 3 days per week
🐝 Role purpose: to ensure that programs are evidence-based, impactful, and accountable to the communities we serve. The role will focus on building simple but effective MEAL systems suitable for a growing NGO, while fostering a culture of reflection and learning.
Requirements include:
💎 Minimum of 2 years of progressive experience in MEAL (including at least 1 year in a coordination role).
✍🏼Proficiency in English and Arabic (spoken and written).

Join our team! Ok, so these are Syrian schoolgirls from the 1960s, but we like the way they look smart, happy and ambiti...
22/08/2025

Join our team! Ok, so these are Syrian schoolgirls from the 1960s, but we like the way they look smart, happy and ambitious, just like our team.

Oshana's parent charity is recruiting a *Finance and Administration Manager* to lead on developing and maintaining our financial and organisational systems, helping to increase the impact of our small but growing charity.

If you know someone who cares about making a difference to the lives of refugee women, who wants to work somewhere friendly and flexible, and who has skills in finance and accounting, please do share this with them!

More info and how to apply via CharityJob - see link in bio

We are full of gratitude for an extraordinary show of support at this year’s Glastonbury festival 🌸🙏❤️Because we are fun...
01/07/2025

We are full of gratitude for an extraordinary show of support at this year’s Glastonbury festival 🌸🙏❤️

Because we are funded by volunteers and donors, we are able to give 100 per cent of the money we raise at events like this, and from sales online, back to the women whose work we are fortunate enough to sell.

In a world of division and conflict, the show of love for our tiny grassroots charity, giving displaced women from Syria and Palestine the opportunity to earn a living and have a sense of purpose creating truly beautiful things, in times of personal devastation, is a thing to be cherished.

Every sale makes a difference and every piece is handmade and unique. We are now back, and back to business, so please visit our online shop for homewares, clothes and accessories that are both beautiful, and change lives.

🙏

Huge thanks for inviting us to speak about Oshana's women and work, live from Glastonbury on this morning's breakfast ...
26/06/2025

Huge thanks for inviting us to speak about Oshana's women and work, live from Glastonbury on this morning's breakfast show ❤️

We'll be in our yurt by the ribbon tower at The Park stage with a beautiful selection of stunning handmade clothing, accessories and interiors, handmade by Palestinian and Syrian refugees based in Lebanon.

Come and say hello 🍉❤️🍉

Words from Palestinian women in our community. Oshana has long worked with Palestinian refugee women from Syria (childre...
22/05/2025

Words from Palestinian women in our community. Oshana has long worked with Palestinian refugee women from Syria (children and grandchildren of Palestinians who fled in 1948), alongside their Syrian sisters. What could we do in this terrible moment other than give them this platform to speak?

Nermeen, Insaf, Wisam and Layal - disenfranchised refugee women in Lebanon - feel there is nothing they can do but pray in the face of what and others have recognised as a genocide in Gaza, and in the face of ongoing oppression, violence and military occupation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

For our Oshana community in the UK, as our government continues to send weapons to Israel, please consider what you might be able to do. Organisations such as , and all have things you can do such as writing to your MP, signing petitions to the Foreign Secretary, or joining local actions.

The message Nermeen sent us ended: "I hope with all my heart that the future of Palestine will be bright and secure, and that one day I will be able to go there and get to know it and my homeland, and that my children will know where their mother is from."

Despite everything, we remain steadfast in this hope too.

Our cross-stitch square for the 150th anniversary quilt. Thank you so much to of for inviting us to make this on her ...
20/05/2025

Our cross-stitch square for the 150th anniversary quilt. Thank you so much to of for inviting us to make this on her behalf
🍓🌸🌷

"More than just a means to an end, Oshana has reinstated my sense of worth in society, beyond the confines of household ...
19/05/2025

"More than just a means to an end, Oshana has reinstated my sense of worth in society, beyond the confines of household duties.

It has rekindled my spirit, connecting me with friends and a community that values me. It made me feel alive again.

Working with Oshana has not only bolstered my mental health but also granted me financial independence. Now, I can provide for my children's needs, which has been immensely empowering.

Meeting the Oshana team was an encounter that profoundly transformed my life."

These are the words of our artisan Bushra, a master craftswoman (mistress craftswoman?) in the art of Arabic embroidery. You can see some of her incredible needlework in the rest of the pictures.

Thank you Bushra for being part of Oshana, you are amazing 💖🌷💚🌸

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Crouch End
London

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