Shabbat sisters’ shop: a dream come true
By/ Salem Elrayyes
In the town of Beit Hanon, north of Gaza Strip, Amani Shabbat sits behind a desk at her shop “Al-Sham” for selling wedding and birthday supplies and decorating wedding cars to serve costumers’ orders and needs.
Amani, 30 years old suffers from a spinal condition. As a Social Science graduate from Al-Azhar University, Amani worked on many temporary projects with NGOs and was very active in organizational and voluntary work. Her younger sister, Elham who suffers from the same condition but didn’t complete her college education is very gifted in making small pieces for celebratory occasions.
“My sister and I used to go to friends and family weddings and parties and we would notice small handmade decorative pieces. So we decided to use our talents and started thinking of a business that would provide us with income giving the lack of job opportunities.”, said Amani.
The sisters began thinking of a way to provide a small capital to launch their business. They came across the Social Developmental Forum Facebook ad, which opened the door for people with disabilities to sign up for a small business grant project.
They applied and were accepted. At the beginning of the project, they received intensive training along with 100 of their peers in the fields of administrative and financial skill development and digital marketing. They later proceeded to participate in the “Step for Future” boot camp within the “Supporting the efforts of persons with disabilities to contribute to positive social and economic empowerment in the Gaza Strip” project.
Amani worked with her sister Elham on developing and writing their business idea to start a shop specialized in selling weddings and birthday supplies and gift-wrapping. She then stood in front of the judging panel at the boot camp to present their idea. She succeeded in convincing the panel and her business, “Al-Sham’ was chosen among the 13 business receiving funding.
The Shabbat sisters who come from a family with mid level income acquired the funding and launched their business, which is now a dream come true. The shop serves clients and provide income. However, they did face some obstacles along the way.
When it comes to obstacles, Amani said, “At first, we had problems finding a suitable location to open the business, but when we did find the location, we still faced some negative views and comments, some were on young women working, especially ones with disabilities. Some people had a very narrow thought when it came to a women working in a shop in the middle of the marketplace that serves men and women.”
However, despite some obstacles, they remain determined to continue their business and expand it in the future in order to arm themselves with a steady income allowing them to provide their needs.
It is noted that the project “Supporting the efforts of persons with disabilities to contribute to positive social and economic empowerment in the Gaza Strip” targeted 100 person with disabilities and is implemented by the Social Development Forum with funding from the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI).