Design, Community & Roots—Nisaba’s New Website
Community isn’t always given. Even if we’re born into one, it can take time to find spaces and people that truly feel like home, where we feel safe to relax into our whole selves. Encountering Nisaba was encountering a piece of home, like meeting ancestors in red tents in the desert, sharing cycles, stories and sacred spaces.
Seeking ancestral feminine wisdom helps me find grounding as a Mesopotamian woman in diaspora. I love to imagine how modern taboos were treated by ancient knowledge keepers and what cosmologies existed, how midwives utilized herbs and positioning during childbirth, rituals that honored first bleeds, how concepts like motherhood were understood, what kinds of communities of support existed. Nisaba Charity is where these dots connect and breathe new life by remaining unwaveringly rooted in its Mesopotamian namesake, operating in community to demystify periods and remove barriers to wellbeing.
Nisaba the goddess represents hands that nourish and energy that sustains. Period and reproductive justice are not political debate topics; they are not tools to swing votes or opinions. Menstruating and lacking access to period products should not be the reason anyone misses school or work, affecting their future and livelihood. Community is medicine when systems fail to support and meet basic needs.
In co-creating Nisaba’s new website and logo, we aimed to reflect Nisaba’s Mesopotamian roots, its rich community, decolonial lens, creative prowess and offerings. We utilized earthy tones and natural imagery for remembrance, language without barriers to spark connectivity, photos of trustees and volunteers that emit the warmth we feel, and did our best to make information accessible for anyone who seeks it.
I’m honored to have co-created Nisaba’s new website and logo with my remarkable friend and Nisaba’s founder, Monette. I’m very grateful to our sister Jessika [@astrorevolt] for her astral knowledge, documenting and sharing Nisaba’s written cuneiform/sumerogram. Collaborating within this diasporic sisterhood born from deeply shared values feels like the work of our ancestors conspiring, like they knew what fire would grow when our hearts came together.
In gratitude and solidarity.
My name is Deena Ana, I’m a creative and proud Nisaba volunteer based in California on unceded Ohlone lands. Connect with me here.
