With two outlets in Abu Dhabi, The One furniture store has established itself as a reputable retailer for chic and designer home products. Visitors to the stores will notice a section where hand-made products are sold, specially labelled. The One has been involved with many community and charity events and has been very vocal about their own Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies. Their ideals stem from the belief that a large corporation has a duty to contribute to society and help out worthy causes.
Among the many bits and pieces of homewear that you’ll find at The One are beautifully made cushion covers and bracelets, all painstakingly embroidery by Palestinian women from the Kalandia refugee camp. The products are part of an initiative that aims to help Palestinian women help themselves. The skill has been passed down through the generations, and the designs are a rich mesh of colours and geometric patterns, ultimately yielding original and beautiful decorative works. The pieces are a testament to the surviving culture and heritage that the women carry with them.
The women usually work on the products in the evenings, once they have attended to all their chores and put their children to sleep. Each cushion cover takes two months to embroider, while each wrist wrap takes around an average of one-and-a -half days to complete. While every geographical area in Palestine has its own pattern of embroidery, the cushion covers and wrist wraps sold at The One represent the Ramallah, Hebron, Beir El-Sabe’ and Beit Lahem areas.
We spoke to Clare Abad, manager of the Khalidiyah branch of The One.
Can you tell us a bit about why The One is involved in so many CSR related activities?
We don’t believe the world needs another retailer; we need a better world. So, our ways of achieving our core purpose of changing the world together include:
Ethical sourcing: We only deal with manufacturers who commit to not using child labour or wood from rainforests. We also offer eco-friendly home fashion as well as products that support disadvantaged communities worldwide. Our Palestinian cushion covers are good examples of the latter.
Challenged employees: We take every opportunity to employ physically and mentally challenged individuals and aim for five percent of our staff to consist of challenged employees. In Abu Dhabi we have one staff member with special needs.
Local volunteering: We make a difference in the lives of the disadvantaged in our communities and beyond through weekly vocational training sessions for young adults with special needs and regular local volunteering initiatives. The Abu Dhabi tribe’s latest initiative is HomeMAID meals for staff in support of the runaway housemaids sheltered in the Philippine Embassy. We raised close to Dhs9,000 with which we bought four commercial sewing machines, cloth, zippers, buttons and other requirements that aim to enable the embassy to create a fully fledged sewing training centre, so these ladies can learn a new skill while also awaiting their fate.
The Onederworld: As part of our Sustainable Village Community programme, we’re working with villagers in Kenya and India on five-year plans towards self-sufficiency.
It’s a very worthy cause so can you tell us more about how the programme to help these women actually came about?
Thomas Lundgren, owner and CEO, is good friends with Bobby Sager whose charitable foundation works with the women in this particular Palestinian refugee camp. He introduced Thomas to this cause in 2009 and we immediately started selling the wrist wraps.
What has the general response been like from the public?
It’s been great! People love these beautiful handmade products that support a good cause. That’s why we’ve continued to sell them and even expanded the range in 2010 to include cushion covers.
Does this programme get handmade crafts from only Palestinian women, or do you work with other nationalities as well?
This specific programme only deals with wristbands and cushion covers made by Palestinian women in the Kalandia refugee camp.
Can you walk us through the process of getting the products and then getting funding back to the craftswoman?
We buy the products ready-made from the Kalandia Camp Women’s Handicraft Cooperative, ship them to all our stores across the Middle East and sell them. All the profits then go back to the Co-op, which is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation that aims to raise the educational, social, cultural, health and economic standards of women and children in Palestine.
Are there any other upcoming CSR activities that we should watch out for?
We recently kicked off two new Onederworld projects in Rajasthan, India, where water projects and the construction of a new classroom is already well underway. Check out our video blog www.theonederworld.com for updates or get involved!
The One has two locations in Abu Dhabi: Next to the BMW showroom, Al Khalidiyah (02 681 6500) and in Abu Dhabi Mall (02 645 4858).
