Qamishli Elederly Woman Proves Creative in The Manufacture of Rugs and Carpets

Ghazala Ali Al-Motlaq, nicknamed “Um Khaled”, is a Qamishli resident aging woman who is about a hundred years old. Still, Ghazala has proved to be creative in using the wool and hair of cattle in spinning and making tents, rugs and carpets.
Ghazala Ali Al-Motlaq, is a resident of the village of Ratla Hesso, affiliated to the town of al-Qahtaniya in the countryside of Qamishli, learned spinning by her mother when she was fourteen years old, when she has been making rugs since then. She also makes bags that are used to store foodstuff such as wheat and flour. Ghazala further makes carpets that she offers to her guests free of charge as a kind of gift.

 Her love for work and her eagerness to help her mother were the motivator for her at the time, so she surpassed her peers, and became able to do many important works, which made her experienced in knitting and weaving, especially making a hair salon that needs a long period of time which may extend to more than two months in order to be ready.

In the past, before the spread of the electricity grid, rural people did not know electricity in the countryside, and that is why she relies on her work during the hours of the day.

 Ghazala explains that making any piece of hand-woven fabric is not as simple as some might think, as this practice needs a specific type of hand skills that she acquired herself, in addition to some practical steps which take days until the raw materials are ready. Ghazala sometimes uses a wooden loom and deer antlers that help her in knitting operations.

Ghazala further explained that the hardship of work gives her renewed energy every day, and she says: “I used to work to help my mother, who taught me self-reliance, and knitting, so that I could help her at work. Today, Ghazala finds out that it is easy for her to make the things her own children need.

NR