Huda

Huda

Jordan

Huda

Huda is 42 and she is from Damascus, Syria. She lives in Deir Alla, Jordan with her two children and her husband.

Moving to a different country due to the worsening situation at home was tough, but things turned out to be easier than anticipated: “We were preparing ourselves for hardship, but in Jordan there are a lot of good people that want what is best for others. […] They welcomed us and accepted us, we felt safe among them,” Huda recalls.

With her husband working in agriculture and her children attending school, she decided she wanted to provide for her family. Syrian refugee women in the area were offered the chance to attend a home maintenance training, where they learn plumbing and electricity-related work.

The training was very useful. They taught us how to work as a team, to cooperate and respect each other, in addition to preparing us for a future job. This will be a source of income for my family and my children… it benefits me and others.

Huda’s dream is to open her own shop in the future and maybe train others, so that she can provide a useful service to her community. Home maintenance is not a sector that usually welcomes many female workers but Huda really believes that women can contribute in a positive way: “if one goes out [of the house] to work, she will encourage the rest, and because now we have a good number of women working, the perception about us being capable of working will change,” she says.

© European Union 2020 / Johanna de Tessières

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