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Our Story

Our Story

Zeki means “sweet” and “smart” in Arabic.

Zeki Learning is a non-profit, educational toy brand that produces ethically-made learning resources. The toys are created with Montessori principles that encourage fine motor skills, sensory skills, language learning, and emotional intelligence. Our goal is to promote exploratory learning in toddlers and preschoolers that stimulates cognitive and physical development. Join Zeki on our journey of shaping minds and shaping lives.

We are a Fair Trade certified brand, meaning that we are dedicated to providing fair working wages and conditions to our employees. Our artisans are women from the West Bank who have historically faced opposition in the form of low-income, gender inequality, and lack of economic opportunities. Zeki’s mission is to empower our women artisans through job opportunities, training, and a fair income.

Zeki Learning is a project of Child’s Cup Full, a non-profit initiative based in Zababdeh, a village located in the northern West Bank. Child’s Cup Full is focused on economic empowerment for women in the area through Zeki Learning and Darzah, a fashion brand creating authentic, handmade Palestinian products.

Please contact us if you have questions about Zeki Learning materials, we’d love to hear from you!

Handmade 

 

Each and every Zeki Learning resource is completely handmade by our talented women artisans from the West Bank. Our team has grown to include six full-time and 22 part-time workers from Zababdeh and neighboring regions. Nearly all of our employees are mothers so they have a special connection to the products they make.

Zeki is committed to implementing sustainable manufacturing practices, such as utilizing locally-sourced materials and upcycling fabric scraps.

Fair Trade

 
Zeki Learning’s dedication to its artisans has been recognized both locally and internationally. The supportive nature of our organization has become well known in local communities, with new applications received each week from Palestinian women interested in working for Zeki Learning. In addition to this local recognition, our work has been endorsed by the Fair Trade Federation. Our Fair Trade certification is a reflection of our promise to provide fair wages to our employees, support marginalized communities, and implement sustainable manufacturing practices, such as upcycling fabric scraps. 

Educational 

 

Our toys are designed by experienced teachers and educators for use in the classroom and home. Zeki Learning resources are utilized in numerous classrooms, such as Head Start centers, Montessori early childhood centers, and other child development centers across the United States and Europe.

In addition to promoting cognitive and physical development, Zeki toys are great social resources that encourage family members to engage in fun, educational interactions with the learning child.

Safe

Our toys are 100% safe. We comply with the standards and regulations for small batch children’s products required by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. This ensures that the materials used in all Zeki Learning products are non-toxic and safe for extensive use by children. All toys are free of lead, phthalates, and heavy metals.

Nonprofit 

 

Zeki Learning is a project of Child’s Cup Full, a 501(c)3 non-profit social enterprise. The idea for Child’s Cup Full began in 2008 when Dr. Janette Habashi, a professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Oklahoma, accompanied her students on a fundraising initiative to support grassroots education programs for refugee children in the West Bank. The local Palestinian community appreciated their assistance, but a group of mothers looking for a long-term solution to their economic strife approached and asked Dr. Habashi if she could help them find jobs. As the local economy does not offer reliable work for women, Dr. Habashi knew that finding work for these women would be extremely challenging.

After much contemplation, Dr. Habashi found that the best solution would be to create jobs for these local mothers. Thus, Child’s Cup Full was born. Despite not having any background in business, Dr. Habashi was committed to helping these women. This brave decision was supported by her community at the University of Oklahoma, provided she took various business courses to ensure the success of the organization.

Upon completing a semester of business classes, Dr. Habashi set out on developing a brand that could utilize her background in educational psychology and the Palestinian mothers’ desire to work. This led to the creation of Zeki Learning. Zeki Learning is a children’s educational resource brand committed to creating high-quality learning materials that promote cognitive development and language learning for preschoolers. The brand exclusively employs women from Zababdeh and its neighboring regions, where access to work is particularly scarce.

As word began to circulate about Child’s Cup Full and the jobs it was creating, more and more women began approaching the organization for work. In order to help more women, Dr. Habashi decided to form a second brand. Inspired by the knowledge of tatreez embroidery that is prevalent in the region, she created Darzah, an ethical fashion brand creating authentic, handmade Palestinian products .

Zeki Learning and Darzah have grown to include six full-time and 22 part-time artisans. Child's Cup Full operates an artisan center, located in Zababdeh, where our artisans come together to build community and work in an uplifting environment. Women from the community continually contact us in search of job opportunities. As the organization grows, it can hire more women and offer its current artisans additional training. Each purchase supports Child's Cup Full's training and employment programs in the West Bank.