From Broken Pieces of Glass to Works of Art
A story about a life
transformed
By; Sami Abu Ghazaleh and Sandra Olewine
Born in Beit Sahour, Helva Hanouneh is a
middle-aged married woman residing in Bethlehem. Usama, Helva’s husband, worked
in the local textile factory. There he earned very little money, barely enough
for purchasing tea and sugar. Helva came to Bethlehem looking for work to help
sustain their family. The International Center of Bethlehem, like other
institutions in Bethlehem, offered Helva 'in sympathy' some small jobs such as
floor cleaning. Looking back on that time in her life, Helva describes herself
as being anxious and worried as she struggled to earn some money to support her
semi-jobless husband and 2 sons. The pressure from earning so little money after
long hours of work, together with her husband unreliable income, was enough to
create havoc with Helva's inner feelings and thoughts.
Every morning, as she used to run to the Center
for work, Helva hoped for a dramatic change in her life. She prayed for a
miracle, for a suitable and decent job. Then, an opportunity came for Helva to
learn a new trade through a course being offered at the International Center of
Bethlehem (ICB). Despite not having even the symbolic fees for the course,
Helva felt this was an opportunity not to be missed. So, in November 1998, she
enrolled in the 10-week stained glass workshop at ICB led by an American artist,
Corinne Whitlach.
As Helva attended those sessions, Corinne made
it clear that this kind of artwork, if done with care for particular standards,
could provide the students with a means to earn their own income. By selling
their own hand-made creations, they would have an opportunity to gain the money
they deserved. Helva took the challenge to heart. She learned very quickly,
making the most of her teacher’s instructions. She took special care with her
hand movements, focusing her total mind and drawing on her creative energy to
shape the pieces of broken, recycled glass into attractive patterns.
Corinne provided her students with some
postcards to help them market their art. After 10 days of hard work, Helva was
able to produce and sell her first stained glass creation. She continued with
determination, managing to produce new items that were suitable for resale every
one or two weeks.
Now four years later, Helva is the top seller in
stained glass of all the artists educated at the ICB arts and crafts workshops.
With her strong enthusiasm and commitment, together with the moral support she
earned especially from the ICB staff director, she has now been able to produce
and sell more than 50 pieces per week. During the Christmas season, Helva’s
angels were the focus for ICB’s Christmas message, something which brought about
over 1,000 orders for her glass angels. She is now training new students, along
with her husband, in the craft of stained glass to help meet the demand. Most
of Helva's products are exhibited and can be ordered through the Al-Kahf Gallery
Gift Store, both on site and online.
In her vision to the future, Helva dreams of
developing her life career in stained glass. She is now looking towards obtain
some machines that would help her increase the quantity of her work.
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