Canaan Scholarships

Canaan Fair Trade is committed to using sales of organic, fair trade Palestinian olive oil to increase access to higher education for marginalized Palestinian youth and first-generation college students with emphasis on rural and refugee communities.

The Canaan Scholarship Fund develops and supports youth programs from pre-college through higher education in Palestine. The Fund provides scholarships for youth to participate in programs that foster creativity and self-expression through the Arts & Sciences to increase their access to higher education. The Canaan Scholarship Fund also provides scholarships that cover full tuition, books, and fees at local Palestinian universities to qualified students from the target groups.

The Canaan Scholarship Award Committee is composed of representatives of Canaan Fair Trade, the Palestine Fair Trade Association, and faculty members from all major Palestinian universities. Qualified students from rural and refugee communities whose parents did not attend college receive priority in the selection process.

In 2007, ten full four year scholarships were awarded: 2007 Scholarship winners
‘Abir Yassin the daughter of an olive farmer from our ‘Anin cooperative, spoke at our 2007 Olive Harvest Festival on behalf of all the scholarship recipients.  She is attending the Arab American University of Jenin and majoring in English Literature.  There were 6 women and 4 men awarded scholarships this year.

In 2008, ten full four year scholarships were awarded: 2008 Scholarship winners
Hadeel Soboh, from the village of Berqin, spoke at the 2008 Olive Harvest Festival to the 2000 attendees.  On behalf of the 9 women and 1 man awarded scholarships this year, she thanked Canaan for giving Palestine back it’s life through education.  Hadeel is an engineering (architecture) student at An-Najah University.