WORKING everyday for seven years, selling simple products at a market close to her home has not bored Umm Yahya.
The Thulatha Market (Tuesday Market) in Abha is a seven-day market, which used to only operate on Tuesdays, hence the name. Breaking stereotypes about the Kingdom, the Thulatha Market is a place where women of all ages, like Umm Yahya, amalgamate to sell homemade products.
Umm Yahya, 44, sells eggs laid by hens at home and flowers such as Jasmine, Basil and Origanum, which grow in abundance in the region. “I get excited everyday when I pack my things to come to the market. I bring Arabic coffee, tea, and bread to share with my friends,” she said.
Umm Yahya comes to the market at 7 in the morning and returns home at noon to cook for her children. She then goes back to the market at 3 p.m. and leaves at 6 in the evening.
Her shop comprises a chair, an old table on which she places her products, and an umbrella in case of sudden rain. Umm Yahya also makes traditional Assiri headbands from the flowers she sells. It is not just their bright colors that make them popular accessories; their smell also attracts customers. People buy headbands for different occasions, such as festivals and weddings, and Umm Yahya makes headbands in front of her customers in an attempt to attract them and to make the whole area around her smell beautiful.
She makes up to SR400 on Tuesdays and around SR100 on other days. Umm Yahya freely talks to her customers and does not hesitate to give them advice. A customer approached Umm Yahya looking for a headband for his wife. Umm Yahya gently advised him and he purchased the one she suggested.
On Umm Yahya’s right side sits Umm Ali, who is known for her sense of humor. Umm Ali sells different types of bread baked at home. She begins preparing her bread at 2 a.m. finishing at around 7 a.m. She prepares the bread with basic substances and uses an Arabic oven to make them.
“Many people prefer traditional Arabic bread rather than the modern bread cooked in modern ovens,” she said. “I make up to 200 bread of varying sizes on Tuesday. I make them out of white and brown flour. I also make bread out of corn flour and offer sweet bread to be eaten with butter,” she added.
Umm Ali has nine children who she needs to feed as her husband suffers from osteoporosis. “I have been making bread for 15 years now. I sell one piece of bread for SR5. I can make up to SR1,000 a day,” she said, adding that she only comes to the market once a week on Tuesdays.
Umm Muhammad, an old woman who sells milk and butter at the same location, was hesitant to share her life experience. She told Arab News that she is forced to come and sell in order to get by, adding that she has about 250 sheep, which she milks.