Baseema Barahmeh and the Anza co-operative

Baseema Barahmeh lives in a village called Anza, south-west of Jenin. She is a wife and a mother of four. She’s also a farmer, a board member of the Palestinian Fair Trade Association (PFTA), a village council member, an expert in hand-rolled maftoul and co-ordinator of the Anza women’s co-operative. Anza means ‘the hard rock’, a description which could as well apply to Baseema, in fact, a serene but independent force of nature who is making good things happen in her village. How on earth does she fit it all in, we wondered aloud. She starts her day at 4 a.m., we’re told.