Finding the Widows Center in the Arab-Israeli village of Kafr Reina is not an easy task. Located high on the hillside overlooking Nazareth, one is meant to take a sharp right turn on a steep, narrow and unmarked road to reach it, but without signposts or street names we speed right past the turnoff.It does not take us long to spot the center, even though manager Israa Zarura stands outside waving excitedly. The parade of scarf-clad women arriving en masse and armed with colorful pots of aromatic Middle Eastern foods gives away any chance of the center's anonymity.
As we follow the people inside, the carefree chatter and excited voices are little indication to the somber history that has brought these women of all ages together under one roof and united in one goal.
"The life of an Arab widow is very hard," says Zarura, a trained social worker, as she shows me around the humble center with its computer-filled classroom and activity room for the widows' children, and large meeting room complete, of course, with the essential kitchen.
"Widows sit on the sidelines of our community," she explains. "Not only has the woman lost her husband and the person who can support the family, but her life is suddenly placed under a microscope and she is not allowed any independence by her own family and the family of her dead husband."
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