ROCHELLE JUNIOR

Sweida- Diana Al-Daish, Nagham Saab and Samar Al-Nur are three women living in Sweida, a mainly Druze city located in southwestern Syria. They have overcome social perceptions and provided employment to women by opening a restaurant in the city six months ago to earn a living.

 Diana Al-Daish told NuJINHA that they had opened a restaurant to earn a living due to the deteriorating economic situation. “We decided to open the restaurant to earn a living, overcome social perceptions and provide employment to women. We had experience in cooking because we always worked in the kitchen at home. We offer the best service to our customers,” said Diana Al-Daish, the mother of two.

 ‘The rising prices affect them’

Diana Al-Daish said that they would continue to work even if the rising prices of food products such as oil, vegetables and bread affected them. “I call on all women to go out and participate in the labor force. We must prove our  existence in the labor force without feeling ashamed.”

‘People feel comfortable’

Nagham Saab, who works at the restaurant as an accountant, also stressed the deteriorating economic situation in Syria. “Many people cannot find jobs after graduation. I did not study accounting in university but I could not find a job so I started working here as an accountant. Since all employees of the restaurant are women, people feel more comfortable. Families mostly prefer to order food from our restaurant.”

Nagham Saab believes that one of the most important thing to participate in the labor force is to gain self-confidence and strengthen the ability to communicate with others.

‘We do our best to change the gendered social perception’

Samar Al-Nur was not used to going out and communicating with people. After working at the restaurant, she gained self-confidence. “I started working at the restaurant after the approval of my husband and family. In our society, people think only men can work at restaurants. We do our best to change this gendered social perception.”