São Paulo – The tenth edition of Hope Store – Arab Handicraft and Cuisine Fair is taking place from 11am to 5 pm on April 7 at Comunidade Árabe Aberta, in São Paulo’s Vila Mariana neighborhood.
The event is designed to help refugees from Arab countries, especially Syria, get their finances back together. The refugees and immigrants get to keep all proceeds from their sales. Handicraft items will include costume jewelry, carpets and towels. All the Arab food on sale will be vegetarian. (photo above is for illustration purposes only).
Arab immigrants from Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Yemen and Iraq will also be present, and non-Arab countries including Nigeria, Angola, Haiti, Colombia and Venezuela will also be represented.
The Arab fair is organized by the exhibitors’ families, with assistance from Instituto Base Gênesis, an Adventist Church NGO that has been catering for four years now to homeless people on Praça da Sé, a downtown São Paulo square. The institute offers Portuguese, English, Arabic and Brazilian sign language lessons, as well as professional training courses including sewing and cuisine.
According to the institute’s fundraiser Michele Aranha, the plan is to have the event branch out into other places, like schools, universities and residential areas. “The institute wasn’t originally intended to work with refugees, but the demand came up and we ended up adapting our work to accommodate them,” explained Aranha.
Find out more from the event’s Facebook page.
Quick facts
Hope Store – Arab Handicraft and Cuisine Fair
Sunday, April 7, 11am to 5pm
Comunidade Árabe Aberta
Rua Coronel Lisboa, 532 – Vila Mariana
São Paulo
Free admission
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
