A Syrian woman overcomes cancer, establishes a micro-sized enterprise

Sweida, (ST) – Eight years ago, Rima Heneidy discovered that she had breast cancer, but that did not affect her determination to establish her own micro-sized project. She launched her enterprise about a year after she discovered her illness, in defiance of her difficult health condition.

The 49-year-old Rima recounted, in her interview with SANA reporter, the beginning of her project of weaving wool works, despite the pain she was feeling at that time, particularly after she moved from chemical therapy to hormonal medication. She indicates that she did not succumb to the disease, from which she later recovered.

Rima used her wool weaving craft, using a single hook, as a means of physiotherapy for her hand, which was affected after a surgery to remove the tumor.

She indicated that she spent working hours in her family’s house in the town of Al-Mazra’a in the western countryside of Sweida, making bags, shawls, hats, children’s shoes, and other things of wool.

Rima used her page on Facebook to market her products. In addition, used to weave woolen works for relatives and friends inside and outside her town and she recently participated in her first exhibition organized by the “Mahabba and Wafa” Association.

Rima advised all women, especially after the age of forty, to conduct early detection examinations for breast cancer periodically in designated centers to check on their condition, and to control the disease if it was discovered early.

The craftsman Adham Ezz El-Din, one of the residents of the town of Al-Mazraa, indicated that Rima is an example of a struggling and ambitious woman who faced her illness with faith and strength to achieve her goal. He pointed out that her woolen works are distinguished and they reflect her skill and talent.

Raghda Sawas