Sewing her way to a better life: Enas’ story

Enas, a mother of two children, succeeded in making a huge transition in her life – from a divorced woman living in destitution to an independent woman running a successful business and helping other women from her local community.

Enas, 37 years old, was forced to leave her house with her family in Darayya city,  Rural Damascus Governorate, in 2013 due to the security situation. She and her family sought safety in another part of the governorate.

As the situation became more volatile, Enas decided to move again with her daughter and parents to As-Sweida Governorate. Her husband decided to flee to Jordan with their son.

Enas married in 2003 but the marriage did not last. While her husband was away in Jordan, Enas filed for divorce and the separation took place.

Having basic knowledge about sewing clothes, Enas approached a UNHCR-supported community centre in As-Sweida to register for a sewing training organized by UNHCR and its partner back in 2016. In the training, , she was one of 20 women who learned to tailor clothes.

After finishing the training, Enas moved between different sewing workshops in As-Sweida as an employee. She worked for long hours for little income. She was feeling isolated and unhappy due to several employers’ perspectives and biases in dealing with divorced women.

“I was feeling miserable because of the employer’s view of me as a divorced woman”, she says.

Consequently, she sought support from the same community centre where she was referred to the centre’s start-up small business grant programme, and she got involved in an entrepreneurship training.

Enas was one of the students of distinction during the training, leading to her project idea being approved. UNHCR and partner supported her in buying necessary equipment such as a sewing machine, an ironing machine, and some cloth and strings to set up her own workshop.

“Now I can rely on myself and support my children without allowing anyone to look at me with pity or treat me differently because I’m a divorced woman”, says Enas with joyful tears filling her eyes. “I’m an independent woman who can support other Syrian women.”

Today, Enas is running her tailoring project in a well-known street in As-Sweida city. She has signed contracts with more than twenty clothing stores in the city to repair clothes. Moreover, she has employed nine women from the local community since she opened her business. She taught them tailoring skills to meet the increasing needs of the local market.

Thanks to her project’s success, she has been able to buy some household items such as kitchen tools and electric tools.. Her achievement is not only about earning an income, but also about empowering other women by providing them with skills and the possibility to be self-reliant.

“I can now support other women who find themselves in the same circumstances that I went through myself in the past,” she stresses.

Edited by Zeineb Marzouk