Heigar's Story

Heiger is 58 years old and a mother of nine children. She became an orphan at an early age and all decisions concerning her life fell into the hands of her brothers. She was only in 5th grade when her brothers decided that “girls do not belong in school,” and made her drop out.

Her brother married her off but she was lucky enough to find a supportive husband. She was able to join Sidreh’s literacy and leadership group and very soon she was writing and reading in Arabic and Hebrew. Haiger began to work in Sidreh’s Lakiya Negev Weaving Project. By having her own income and becoming a co-provider at home, she slowly began to participate in her family’s decision-making process, and gained the respect of her husband and peers.

Sidreh continued to support Haiger’s professional development and personal empowerment process. After seeing her strong people skills and high motivation, Sidreh provided Haiger with a tour-guide certification course.

She always remembers her childhood as being completely isolated. She recalls the first time she saw an “outsider” visiting her village.
It was a Jewish teacher that came from the north of Israel. “I did not think there was a world outside of my village”, she recalls. ”Everything about him was clean and shiny.” And so she found out there was a different way to live in the world. She dreamed of becoming a teacher herself.

As a result of Sidreh’s empowerment opportunities and Haiger’s hard work and perseverance, she is the only woman of her generation that works outside of her home, and she has become a tour guide, an extremely creative weaver and a member of her village’s planning committee.

 “I knew that it was too late for me to fulfill my dream, but I still had time to ensure that my daughters could fulfill theirs.”

 With her earnings she paid her daughters’ education, three of whom are now an accountant, a nurse and a lawyer. On July, Haiger will get on an airplane for the first time and travel to the United States to attend the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market, to represent Lakiya Negev Weaving.