Some 300 women have signed up to dig reservoirs on Gaza
farms in a project organized by the internationally funded Union of Agriculture
Work Committees, UAWC officials said Thursday.
Although Gaza women have traditionally worked on family
farms, picking fruit and vegetables, this is the first time they have hoisted
shovels for a job usually reserved for men in the conservative enclave, where
unemployment is 60 per cent.
Najah Al-Farra said she became a ditch digger to support
her 10 children after her husband left her.
"I went to work because my conditions were very
difficult. I make 1,200 shekels ($318) for every 20 days of work," she
said.
Mohammed Al-Bakri, the UAWC's executive director, said
the organization aimed to give women equal opportunity in job creation projects
in the Gaza Strip, territory controlled by Hamas Islamists.
"We were anxious at the beginning but the women
proved to be good at the job," he said about the ditch-diggers.
In a sun-baked field, a woman who gave her name only as
Hanan said doing such manual labor might break conventions in the Gaza Strip,
but she was more concerned about supporting her four children.
"I am ready to tile the sea to make a living for my
children," said Hanan, a single parent.
