QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Ayda al-Ali, 22, is from Alaya neighborhood in Syria’s northeastern city of Qamishli. On her back, she carries a bag of flour from a wholesale shop and put it in a food cargo truck which is parking in al-Kornish street in Qamishli. Another young girl, who is in the truck, takes the bag of flour and tidies it inside.
They work as porters “carriers”.
Being a porter can lead to health problems for women, yet women “porters” carry bags of rice, sugar, flour, tins of oil and other stuff where each one may weigh 50 k.
The difficult economic conditions and having no university certificates prompted such girls and women to work as porters although it is a low-paid job and the merchants exploit their poor situation.
Al-Ali said she had always wanted to have a university degree. But, her mother’s death and the illness of her father denied her pursue education. She left school after she finished high school. Now, she works to sustain her family, a sick father and a 12-year-old sister.
While loading bags of flour in the truck nonstop, al-Ali told North Press she had searched for another job to do but unfortunately she could not find any. Her relatives offered no financial help, either.
Al-ali starts her daily strenuous work in the early hours of morning until it gets dark. She has to wait for food cargo trucks to reach in order to upload the goods or load them.
Little wages
Al-Ali complains her daily wage is little compared to the long hours of work and its hardness. “My daily wage is less than 10,000 Syrian pounds and is not enough to pay for my father’s medicine. I often walk to get back home because I want to save some of my money.
All this coincides the inflation and fall of the Syrian currency against the USD.
She believes that the humanitarian and civil society organizations have to secure job opportunities for women by opening some projects. “being a porter is too hard”.
Owners of warehouses and wholesale shops say the few number of men in the city pushed them to employ women.
On the other hand, North Press interviewed some women who said that owners of wholesale shops prefer to employ women because they are paid less than the men.
Abdulsamad Qassem, a 53-year-old trader in Qamishli said tens of women, including girls below 14, come to his shop everyday searching for job as porters.
Apart from the heavy weight of the bags they load and the low wages they earn, these women endure work in inclement weather being freezing or rainy in the winter or boiling temperature in the summer.
No other choice
Reem, from Hilko neighborhood works as a porter in order to be able to pay back the debts her father has borrowed from people. Her father left for somewhere unknown.
The girl, conditioning not to reveal her surname, said her father was a daily hire worker. He failed to find a job with a sustainable salary. Therefore, he used to borrow money from the people and after the debts accumulated, he left the house and told none of his family.
After a while, the debt holders came to Reem’s house asking a repay. This, pushed her to work as a carrier although she is still 20 years old.
Financial compensation is not given to any woman in case she has injuries during work or because of it. Some women claimed a pay rise but they were sacked.
Reem, who loads and uploads goods in al-Kornish street, said she is the breadwinner now; her mother is ill and she has a little brother. There is no other one to provide for the family. “The shopkeeper frequently told me I am little and this work is hard for me, but I have got no other choice”.