“Umm Aya” makes living of selling lollipops on cart in Damascus
Umm Aya standing next to her cart to buy lollipops in Mezzeh in Syria's Damascus – North Press
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – Every one passes through Sheikh Saad area, in Mezzeh, in the Syrian capital Damascus, knows closely “Umm Aya”, a woman in her fifties who started her own business after witnessing bitterness of life, war and fate that impacted her life.
Umm Aya, who hails from the coastal city of Jableh, has lived in Damascus since she got married 33 years ago, she was widowed ten years ago, thus she has raised four daughters without any breadwinner but her own business, and recently, a grandson, whose father died in the Syrian war, has been added to her family members.
First steps
Umm Aya, who lives near a cement factory in the district of Dummar al-Balad that is full of irregularities with a high pollution rate, worked in rinsing and cleaning houses, and her life have changed after she was infected with several diseases. She narrates the recent phase she has experienced to North Press.
In her colloquial dialect, she says, “After I got tired of working at homes following the death of my husband and became the breadwinner for four daughters, I started selling coffee and tea at a gas station in Mezzeh.”
However, people, particularly drivers, frowned on the idea of having a woman selling coffee and tea day and night at the station, she added, “I tried to stay and be patient for six months, but owing to high price of coffee and tea, I could no longer continue.”
She sold each cup of coffee for no more than 500 Syrian pounds (SYP), so she thought she had to find another solution that would help her make more profit and increase income “without being forced to accept handouts from passersby,” as she put it.
Lollipops cart
After deep thinking and considering the economic feasibility of the project by Umm Aya, who had never been to school, she decided to create her own project, so she collected iron and wood pieces she owned and put a cardboard on top of them and punched it so she can insert sticks of “sugar popsicles” to sell them.
Umm Aya buys her goods on al-Hamidiyah Souq at wholesale prices and sells them at retail to make a profit of 100 to 200 SYP for each lollipop according to its size.
She narrates to North Press how she started her own project, “I started the project this spring, specifically in April, I arrange the sugar lollipops on the cart according to the size and price. Prices range from 500 to 1.500 SYP per one, with a small profit margin.”
The lady pulls the cart and loudly shouts, “lollipops for sale” and money she makes from her project, she pays for her house’s rent and half of fare of her road to work a space that she cuts half of by walking.
On this wooden cart that challenges summer and winter, Umm Aya spends her day from dawn to sunset, moving back and forth on roads in the “Sheikh Saad” area in Mezzeh, west of the capital.
Like many Syrian women across the country, the lady’s cracked hands, wrinkles on her face, and obesity of her body indicate years of disappointment for a woman who has insisted to overcome life difficulties and troubles with dignity.
Umm Aya Told North Press, “In spite of all my sufferings, I prevent my daughters from working outside the house, we eat whatever is available every day, neighbors sympathize with me, but I do not take money from anyone unless he or she buys a lollipop, and I have customer of children who buy from me on a daily basis.”
Syrian war that have been ongoing for over eleven years non-stopped has left many orphaned families and forced a lot of women to be forced to enter work market to make living for their children amid dire economic conditions the country is slapped by.