Fayrouz Ibrahim, from Khanyounis in the southern Gaza Strip, had no choice but to design and sew clothes, although her earnings were hardly enough to provide a minimum of living and her home needs.
As the world celebrates Women´s Day on March 8, Palestinian women culminate in another, more painful and painful way as they struggle with the cruelty of life to survive, revive their families and try to lift them out of extreme poverty to acceptable poverty.
Among these photographs, widow Fayrouz Ibrahim seeks to support herself and the grandchildren of one of her martyred sons, working in a small workshop she owns at her home in the town of Khuza´a, east of Khanyounis, indicating that she focuses her work on the requirements of clothing for children and women.
She pointed out that a number of women in the town often come to fix their old clothes under the difficult circumstances facing them, noting that many women do not have the ability to buy new clothes, which increases their suffering in providing the requirements of life for their family.
She pointed out that the difficult living conditions experienced by the residents of the Gaza Strip, prompted her to buy and work on the "sewing machine" after she had learned the profession at the hands of her mother many years ago, pointing out the difficulty of working on the machine, especially since the design and sewing of clothes takes days and takes long hours from her daily.
Ibrahim noted the impact of the work on the sewing machine on her health, as she began to suffer from a slight weakness in vision.
Ibrahim´s difficult circumstances are perhaps experienced by 32-year-old graduate Mai Qudeih, who has resorted to farming on a citizen´s land east of Khanyounis.
Qudeih failed to find work after graduating from the Islamic University 10 years ago, which has led her to work in agriculture ever since.
Kadih says she has often sought work to help herself and her family, but the high unemployment rate and the impact of the 14-year blockade on the Gaza Strip have compounded her struggle to find work that will enable her family to cope with the hardships of life.
She had hoped to celebrate International Women´s Day by being in a better workplace than she is now.
Kadih sent a message to Palestinian women that they should take the initiative to seek employment and compete with men in their right to live as a doctor, nurse, engineer and others, calling on women to leave their mark and deny men´s monopoly on different professions.
Hiba Abu Subha, 26, sent a message to the girls in Gaza to seek their goals, not to give in to any difficulties they face, and to challenge all circumstances in order to reach what they want.
Abu Subha works on her own "bee farm" after receiving it with funding from Save the Youth.
She said she faced a lot of difficulties, but overcame them and was able to produce high-quality honey and sell large quantities of it to citizens.
She said she is happy to work on her own farm, especially since many believe that this work is for men only, pointing out that she has satisfied her ambitions despite the hardships of the work she does.
