Our story

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

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

Anna Rósa taught workshops in three refugee camps, with over 600 women attending throughout the year. During her time there, she connected with two key members of the project: Eman, a local Kurdish woman training to be a clinical herbalist who led workshops between Anna Rósa’s visits, and Bashar, who ensured her safe transportation from place to place while she was there.

After one year, authorities in Kurdistan halted the project, citing safety concerns about teaching “uneducated women,” suggesting they might harm themselves or others with this knowledge. However, this reasoning appears questionable, given that the curriculum focused on creating harmless products like chamomile ointment and herbal teas. The decision seems less about product safety and more about limiting women’s empowerment and their ability to care for themselves and their communities. Despite this setback, we remain optimistic about finding a way to continue the project in the future.