How did it start?

When Anna Rósa first got the idea to teach women in refugee camps herbal medicine she didn´t dare tell anybody. How weird is it to want to work in a place you have zero connections and you have never been to. Since then a lot has happened.

First trip to Kurdistan Iraq

2023

In March Anna Rósa went for the first time to Duhok in Kurdistan Iraq. She started the project Herbal Sisters in cooperation with charity organisation Lotus Flower. During this visit she taught women in three refugee camps to make ointments.

The charity established

2023

The charity organisation Helping Herbs was established on June 11th 2023 by Anna Rósa Róbertsdóttir, Hjörleifur Sveinbjörnsson and Ingibjörg Birna Ólafsdóttir.

Second trip to Kurdistan Iraq

2023

Anna Rósa spent a month in the autumn teaching workshops in three refugee camps. 652 women benefitted from the workshops in 2023-2024 and we handed out 687 herbal remedies. Products are chosen by the women based on their needs – for example, remedies for pain, burns and wounds. Eman, a local Kurdish woman training to be a clinical herbalist, was hired to continue teaching workshops in between Anna Rósa’s visits. Bashar, a driver was also hired to drive Eman to the camps. There is no public transport in Iraq and the roads are unsafe so it was essential to have an experienced driver for Eman.

The project in Kurdistan was stopped

2024

The authorities in Kurdistan Iraq stopped this project after 12 months. According to them it was too dangerous to teach uneducated women how to make Chamomile ointment and herbal teas. The women could possibly harm themselves and others with this sort of knowledge. We are still trying to find ways to continue with this project.

A study visit to Uganda

2024

Anna Rósa, our clinical herbalist, was invited for a study visit to Uganda by UNHCR in the summer 2024. She taught two workshops for 56 women in the refugee settlments. The women showed great interest in learning more about herbs and all of them received products to take home. It has been agreed that Helping Herbs will collaborate with UNHCR Uganda on a project in the refugee settlements. Anna Rósa plans to visit again in the beginning of 2025.

About Anna Rósa

Anna Rósa, our founder and clinical herbalist, studied herbal medicine in Britain for four years. She has run her own consultation and lectured on the healing power of Icelandic herbs for more than 30 years as well as running her own skincare company. On top of that, she has published a popular book on Icelandic medicinal herbs and created an online course on the same subject. She makes over a hundred products manually and handpicks her herbs in pure Icelandic nature. She channels profit from all her products into Helping Herbs.

Here you can also watch a short film of Anna Rósa working as a herbalist in Iceland.