Syrian refugee in Erbil overcomes hardships using simple sewing tools
Khadija Omar, Syrian refugee woman in Erbil, KRI, Iraq – North Press
ERBIL, KRI, Iraq (North Press) – Khadija Omar, a Syrian refugee woman living in Qushtapa camp in Erbil in Kurdistan Region in Iraq (KRI), designated a room in her small house for sewing to support her ill husband and son born with Down Syndrome.
When the war began in Syria in 2011, many Syrian families took refuge in the KRI. Many Syrian women wanted to help their husbands and started working. Now the camp’s market is filled with women who sew, sell food and goods, and offer other services.
Omar moved from Syria with her family to Erbil ten years ago. She wanted to elevate the hardship of living in a small tent with a husband who has disability in his right foot and could not work a lot to support his family. She started working in a sewing workshop inside the camp. Slowly their living conditions improved, and they moved from the tent into a modest house composed of two rooms and a kitchen.
She worked hard to secure the daily expenses for her husband and two daughters, but five years ago, she gave birth to a son with Down Syndrome, aggravating their financial burdens. The profits she made from working in the sewing workshop no longer sufficed their expenses; therefore, she turned a room in her house into a sewing shop.
There are about 250,000 Syrian refugees in the KRI, mainly living in the three governorates of Erbil, Duhok, and Sulaymaniyah, according to the UNHCR.
Omar told North Press, “I work at home. I sew clothes for women living in the camp, whether jackets, dresses, or traditional Kurdish outfits. Whatever their request is, I do it. I start sewing from eight in the morning to eight in the evening to make money for my family. I am the only one who can work.”
Omar’s son suffers from a heart condition. Three months after he was born, doctors said he had Down Syndrome and a hole in his heart. “Upon hearing this news, I became more determined to work. I wanted to protect my family from starvation. I borrowed some money and bought a sewing machine,” she said.
According to a report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 2014, “More than 145.000 Syrian refugee families in Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan – or one in four of all households – are headed by women facing a lone fight for survival.”
Omar believes that self-dependence and working is the best solution for women in their journey of being a refugee. “Aid from NGOs is almost non-existent. My family in Syria cannot help me. I only have my work to support me. That is the reason I did not stop sewing since I came to the camp. I can secure food for my family and medicine for my husband and sick son through my work,” she added.