Dabera Solomon and and Dymblo Mangista, her daughter, are Ethiopian Jews.

Dymblo explained that the family was forced to leave Ethiopia because of anti-Semitic persecution, which heightened in the ’70s and ’80s. Despite their hardships and migration to a new country, the family has maintained and passed on many of the traditions of their homeland, including the practice of weaving baskets for household and ceremonial use.

Dabera recounts that she began innovating with new materials for weaving the baskets when she and her family were waiting at a camp in Addis Ababa for the “big bird” to take them to Israel, and she passed the time–and made some money for food—by weaving baskets out of whatever materials were lying around.

Today, Dabera and Dymblo weave brightly colored baskets by wrapping available plant stems in raffia, thread or yarn, and then weaving the strips together by hand. Dabera hopes that her basket weaving knowledge will live on in her community in Israel through other family members who, like Dymblo, are learning and practicing Ethiopian traditions.