Bakery in Raqqa aims to empower women economically
Raqqa – North-Press Agency
Ahmad al-Hassan
On April 20th, the Woman's Council (a women's organization in northeast Syria) opened a special bakery for women under the name "Afiya and Awafi" in the village of al-Salhabiyah, 25 km west of Raqqa city.
The project aims for economic empowerment for women in the region, and supports the effort to increase the income and improve working conditions for widows and low-income families of through the sale and production of bread as an income source for many families.
Fatima Ibrahim, an official in the Woman's Council, said to North-Press that they have started the bakery to help widows and low-income families to fend for themselves and their children.
The project, at first, was a "traditional experience" to find job opportunities for the rural woman, while the Economic Committee of the Civil Administration in Raqqa provided necessary equipment and materials to improve the quality of the bread.
Fatima Ibrahim said that "the economic committee provides the flour, gas canisters, and other necessary materials" to keep the project going, and thus the financial benefits of the women workers will be paid from the sales of the bakery.
There are several development projects for women in Raqqa, including sewing workshops, greenhouses, commercial stores and confectionaries, the latest of which was "Afiya and Awafi" bakery, while the Woman's Council speaks about its endeavor to create other projects to increase the effectiveness of the women in the social and civil life fields.
The "Afiya and Awafi" bakery is distinct from other bakeries in the region, as it specializes in making "traditional bread", which is a kind of popular bread in the Syrian countryside which preferred by the population alongside other popular foods.
Currently, there are three women working in the bakery who make the bread and sell it, but the Woman's Council plans to expand the project to increase the number of the women workers to seven due to the increase in demand.
Alya Ahmad al-Mar'i, a resident of al-Salhabiyah village and a beneficiary of the project, said that the project covers a portion of her material needs and that she does not have another source of income."
Alya, a widow with nine children, has been making bread since she was twelve years old, so working in the bakery for long hours is not difficult for her, even when producing large amounts of bread.
Like other customers of the bakery, Salem Mustafa al-Salem, from al-Salhabiyah village, prefers the bread of this bakery to the bread factory, saying that the bread from this bakery tastes delicious, and he sees that "most traditional foods need such kind of bread."
Residents of Raqqa and other regions of northeastern Syria are accustomed to using traditional bread when eating popular foods such as fattah, gruel and other meals.