I Am Woman: the story of how a single mother transformed her life

Siham, a 32-year-old mother of two effortlessly shoulders a video camera, capturing precious moments of celebration in the village of Jalboun in the West Bank. She’s capable, confident and has a vision for a great future. But just months ago, the weight of the world rested on her shoulders–not a video camera. As a divorced single mother, Siham has come up against discrimination and stigma. And without the necessary skills, she wasn’t able to secure gainful employment to help support her family. That changed after she participated in a photography and videography course provided by World Vision. She’s now working in an area she loves and earning a good income to meet the growing needs of her young children.

The little village of Jalboun is located 12 kilometres, or 7.5 miles, from the West Bank city of Jenin. Surrounded by the illegal Israeli separation barrier in the north, east, and west, families in Jenin continue to endure closures and the confiscation of their family lands. At 34.5%, Jenin’s food insecurity rate is the highest in the West Bank. Just over 43% of its residents are unemployed, 81.1% spend more than 45% of their income on food, and 19.1% live in dire conditions. For the people of the small village of Jalboun, life is a struggle. One of Jalboun’s 2,390 residents is Siham; a 32-year-old single mother of two.

Siham is divorced with a seven-year-old son and nine-year old daughter. Struggling to make sense of her life in a culture that doesn’t accept divorce with the every day reality of living under occupation, Siham had a hard road ahead of her. After her divorce six years ago, Siham moved back to live with her elderly mother, brother and his family, and her two children in a small, old two-bedroom house.

Just over 43% of its residents are unemployed, 81.1% spend more than 45% of their income on food, and 19.1% live in dire conditions.

“I found myself as a single mother, responsible for raising two children alone and surrounded by cultural and social restraints and pressures,” recollects Siham. “Being divorced in a conservative and closed-minded community is limiting the choices, opportunities, and potential for me to live a normal life.”

At first, Siham’s brother assumed the responsibility of supporting Siham and her children financially but his already low income simply couldn’t stretch far enough. “Several times I tried to pull my life together and looked for work opportunities to be able to support my family financially, but was always faced with challenges and obstacles,” explains Siham. “Some were related to my low job qualifications, while others are due to the unmerited traditions and customs.”

Siham worked temporarily as a hair stylist, hosting female customers at her mother’s house. Lack of experience, inadequate space and tools and high operating costs forced Siham to stop. After a while, Siham found work as a photographer and videographer, taping weddings in the village.

“Having neither experience nor training led to poor quality and I barely worked once or twice a month with no good return on the investment, where I used to earn US$ 20 – 40 per party,” says Siham about the experience. “After paying the equipments rental, what was left was very little and barely enough to meet my children’s increasing needs”.

Things slowly began to change in 2008, when Siham’s children were sponsored with World Vision, receiving letters and support from sponsors abroad, including gifts such as stationary, schoolbags, sport suits, and personal hygiene kits. “These gifts helped in decreasing some of the essential expenses for school,” said Siham.

A year later, World Vision distributed livestock in Jalboun with the aim of providing income generation opportunities for impoverished families. Siham’s mother received two sheep and two ewes, providing income through the sale of milk and dairy products, which also goes towards feeding Siham’s children. “My mother grasped this opportunity and we all worked so hard to succeed and earn good income; our efforts paid off as we have nine sheep in total now!”

Being divorced in a conservative and closed-minded community is limiting the choices, opportunities, and potential for me to live a normal life

But the true change was still to come. World Vision, through its northeast Jenin Area Development Programme (ADP), offered training courses on photography and videography and Siham eagerly put up her hand to join.

The training aimed to equip more than 20 women from different villages with professional skills that are not only in demand here, but also culturally acceptable. In Jalboun, where women contribute only 8.2%, either fully or partially towards the household income, proper training was a gap that needed to be filled.

“In conservative communities, empowering the women is a critical factor to empower the entire community. Therefore, northeast Jenin ADP decided to really focus on women empowerment– socially, culturally and economically,” explains northeast Jenin ADP Manager, Majdi Daibes.

“I felt like this is my golden opportunity to change the future for my children and myself,” Siham says of the training. After receiving 100 hours of theoretical and practical training, Siham was offered a job with a local studio. “I assisted in videotaping many weddings, editing the tapes, and developing photos. This was a great experience!”

Siham says that this opportunity gave her the chance to develop her skills and financially support and care for her children. “For example in September I worked in 15 parties where I earnt 1,500 NIS (US$420) that I could spend on purchasing new clothes and stationary for my children at the beginning of the scholastic year and, of course, spend some money on food for my family.”

“The idea behind this training came from the community–from women who really wanted to link the market needs with their capacities,” continues Majdi Daibes. “Siham was one of the 20 women that participated in this training, but not all of them had the same level of success. We can help in obtaining knowledge and skills but success needs the will and dedication that Siham has.”

Others have witnessed the same hard work and determination. "We were surprised by the talents that Siham had, and were so impressed that she is such a great mother and takes such good care of her children. As a divorced mother with children, it is great that she managed to overcome all her obstacles and be where she is now. Siham is a really hard worker and her determination and perseverance is really what drew us to her", says 24-year-old Rana Farhat from Jalboun and Siham's supervisor at the Jenin Al Ayham studio.

I feel like new horizons are opened to us

Siham plans to continue her photography and videography work, hoping one day to open a studio of her own in the small village of Jalboun.

“Now I am very happy, more confident of myself, and more optimistic about the future,” says Siham, smiling broadly.

“I feel like new horizons are opened to us and I am dreaming of providing my children with a pleasant life and help them build their future through education.”

Siham says that her children are happy to see their mother working and enjoy accompanying her to the studio or wedding parties.

"I love to go with my mum to the studio and parties when she works. I hope one day I will be strong and special like my mum," says Siham's nine-year-old daughter, Solafa.

Siham adds, “To see them smiling, more hopeful and enjoying life is worth every minute of hard work!”

World Vision currently serves 117 communities through the West Bank and Gaza, supporting some 35,500 children through Child Sponsorship. Work Vision works in Jalboun and 25 other villages in need throughout Jenin to help ensure children are cared for, protected, and participating in their community.

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