Inaam Shaheen turns her suffering into a successful project and obtains the ISO 9001 certificate
Syrian Women have succeeded in proving themselves as productive members in various fields of work including professional, practical and others.
They have faced great challenges and difficulties during the nine-year war , but they have been able to prove their ability to adapt to conditions and overcome challenges through their mastery of work in addition to their determination to succeed in any experience they go through .
Inaam Shaheen is one of the displaced Syrian women , who came to Lattakia from Aleppo province and managed to transform her strenuous circumstances by diligence , into success .
Shedding light on this uniquely successful story Syriatimes e-newspaper interviewed Mrs. Shaheen who said “we had nothing when we came to Lattakia after we had left Aleppo due to terrorist threats and we were in need of work . In a small shop in “ Ein Al-Baida” village in Lattakia countryside , where I stayed with my family, I started manufacturing dishwashing liquid and laurel and olive oil soap in a primitive way and selling them to the people of the village” .
Mrs. Shaheen, who recently obtained the ISO 9001 certificate, underlined that thanks to the support of the Rural Women ‘s Development Department at Lattakia’s Agriculture Directorate she was able to display her products at the Permanent Marketing Center of rural women’s products and take part in different local exhibitions which helped her market her products.
She noted that her life changing step was after she got a loan from the rural women development center which helped her to improve the production and introduce 15 new products of natural and medical plants including fragrant , medicinal and laurel soaps, shampoo, lotion, day and night creams and perfumes.
Shaheen expressed her happiness that through expanding her project she was able to provide job opportunities to her family and 6 families of Ein Al-Baida village through packaging and marketing .
She indicated that taking part in the exhibitions held in Lattakia and other provinces provided an opportunity to market their products to Egypt, Lebanon and Sudan through visitors.
This displaced Syrian woman was successful in combining her project and her family’s academic and scientific experience in manufacturing as her husband holds a PhD in petrochemicals and her son is a student at the Faculty of Chemistry at Tishreen University.
“ My products, which bear the name (Brix), currently reach various governorates and selling centers in Damascua, Hama, Al-Sweidah, Aleppo and Tartousdprovinces were opened ” Mrs. Shaheen said, .
“I remember proudly that at the start of my project I was selling my products without any profit, as I wanted to promote my products and introduce their quality and now I hope to spread Brix products ” Shaheen expressed.
In turn , her son Ahmed Kharboutli said “ I thought of investing my experience and my studies in the village of “ Ein Al-Baida” which is rich in natural medical plants from which essential oils can be extracted and we sought to be mediators between nature and consumers”.
He indicated that they developed a primitive manufacturing method by introducing new materials which encouraged the Rural Women ‘s Development Department to adopt their project.
Ahmed attributed the big move of the project from a small room to a large workshop to the quality of the product, which witnessed an increased demand. This prompted them to increase the manufacturing capacity as well as expand the work and marketing staff
He stressed the importance of employing scientific expertise in practical application, which was positively reflected on the product.
Eng. Rabab Wardeh , Head of the Rural Women’s Development Department at Lattakia Directorate of Agriculture told Syriatimes “ undoubtedly, women are an integral part of today’s society and it is crucial to recognize their vital role in sustainable development”.
She underscored that the department’s plans aim at empowering rural women socially, economically and financially creating job opportunities and supporting rural women’s small projects to improve their living conditions.
Eng. Wardeh indicated that the department currently supports a large number of rural women, each of whom has a success story, including Enaam Shaheen, noting that the department has followed Inaam’s work closely by taking samples and analyzing them in accredited laboratories.
She underlined that the department provides marketing assistance, displaying rural women’s products at permanent marketing centers and carries out free training courses for rural women to develop their skills.
Wardeh stressed that Inaam Shaheen is a role model to be followed by all Syrian women with her patience, persistence, challenge, superiority and creativity”.
“I feel proud of rural women’s products because they were made by hands of love, steadfastness, hope , creativity, ambition and adherence to their homeland. I hope to see all women achieving success stories through their work” . Eng Wardeh concluded.
Interviewed by : Rawaa Ghanam
Photos by : Rawaa Ghanam