The name Jeddah is derived from the Arabic word for “grandmother”. According to eastern folk belief, the tomb of Eve, considered the grandmother of humanity, is located in Jeddah. The tomb was sealed with concrete by religious authorities in 1975 due to some people are praying at the site. The vibrant migrant Knanaya community, marked its foot prints on Jeddah, during the initial days of migration to the Middle East – 1980’s.  Knanaya Catholic Association Jeddah (JACK) was germinated on February 2002, to uphold the spirit of unity and togetherness among the community members. Since the Knanaya community in Jeddah is consisting of floating population, members from neighbouring trivial Taif, Yanbu and Rabigh cities are also associated with JACK.  As like any other association, we too have faced different challenges, however our challenges never deprived us, and rather they strengthened the relation among us. We are part of the KCC-ME and Saudi Knanaya Catholic coordination team from their inception.

JACK was formed to maintain a good relation between the scattered community members and to develop extracurricular activities among the children, to face the future worldly challenges.   We usually gather to celebrate Easter, Onam and Christmas. The gatherings are always colourful with the games and different cultural activities of children as well as adults.   In order to manage and execute gatherings, every year we elect executive committees along with our Christmas gathering.  As like in our Parish’s we do Christmas carol visits among the Knanaya families and the fund raised through carols are used to support the indigent Knanya members of the association / Kerala.  We recently started to gather for a monthly service in order to spiritually strengthen the family bonding among members.  We solemnly remember the former leaders and members of the association, for their valuable support and guidance for the successful voyage of the association.