Beautiful Henna Hands!

Some of the families in our school community celebrated the end of Ramadan last week.  Here is a photo of one of our pupil's hands.  She had them adorned with intricate Henna designs.  This is an ancient art using an orange-red dye that comes from the leaves of the Henna plant.  The Henna is mixed to a paste and mixed with other ingredients which are safe to apply to the skin.  Once the Henna design is dry, it is scraped off the skin and leaves a beautiful stain behind which lasts for a few weeks. 
Women have their hands painted with henna to celebrate important events.  Click on the link to find out more about the Muslim festival of Ramadan.