Petra: Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah Tuesday visited the Wadi Musa town Ma’an and met the founders and beneficiaries of local economic empowerment programmes and a group of youth spearheading local initiatives.

According to a statement from the Queen’s office, Queen Rania met with Yousef Falahat, the founder of Thakafat, which creates financial empowerment opportunities for community members by connecting them with tourists seeking an “authentic” Jordanian experience.

Thakafat’s projects, the majority of which are women-led, allow tourists to learn more about the area and its people by partaking in experiences including cooking, craft making and spending time with locals.

A member of Thakafat’s team, Anmar Jbour, told the Queen about the inspiration behind the initiative and shared their plans to operate in As-Salt and Madaba. Others shared details about how they launched their initiatives.

Her Majesty then stopped by Esraa Kitchen, a Thakafat project that introduces tourists to Jordanian cuisine by
allowing them to sample local food and participate in its preparation.

The kitchen, which provides part-time work opportunities to local women, has welcomed over 4,200 visitors from 32 countries to date.

Queen Rania visited the Nabataean Ladies Cooperative in Wadi Musa, where board members and president Fawziyeh Hasanat gave the Queen a tour of the showroom and silver jewellery-making workshop.

Established in 1999, the cooperative aims to revive the art of Bedouin silver making, provide a “unique” tourist experience and offer jobs for local women.

The cooperative had previously received a financial grant from a programme run by the Jordan River Foundation (JRF) and funded by the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation.

The grant supported the cooperative in purchasing machinery and raw materials required for making silver jewellery and helped train 26 people in the craft.

The Queen visited Abu Elias Restaurant, which serves traditional Jordanian dishes, to meet with youth from across Ma’an wo
rking on creating and expanding their community empowerment projects.

Their initiatives range from projects in the arts, environmental awareness, translation and typing, chocolate making and moulding to volunteer work with families in need, including delivering assistance packages and housing renovations.

Source: Jordan News Agency