From Loom to Life The Next Chapter of Heritage in Her Hands

There is a quiet thrill in watching a vision take shape. This week our prototype blanket came off the loom in Tunisia; the first tangible piece of a dream that began as sketches stories and late night scribbles in my notebook. From here production begins. Our goal is to create twenty blankets in this first run testing the market while honouring the women who weave them, and the women who will one day wrap themselves in their warmth.

As we look ahead the world reminds us how fragile aid networks can be. With Gaza unable to support donations at this time, we are carefully exploring other locations where women refugees gather ensuring that each blanket finds its way into hands that need it most. Every choice we make is shaped by dignity, reciprocity, and the belief that heritage is a gift that should be shared even in the hardest of places.

Behind the scenes we are strengthening our foundation. I am deep in the work of grant applications, but this effort requires more than passion, it requires structure. We are actively seeking a Finance Board Member to join our team; someone who can help us build with steadiness accountability and foresight, so that Heritage in Her Hands has the scaffolding it needs to grow.

And just as the threads on the loom have begun to come together, so too are the strands of storytelling. This month we met with a few production companies to discuss The Last Thread, our documentary project capturing the lives and artistry of Amazigh women across North Africa. To sit at that table and share their stories was a reminder that this work lives not only in textiles, but in voices, landscapes, and legacies.

One prototype blanket twenty in the making, and countless women at the heart of it all. The work has only just begun but already it feels alive.