In the West Bank village of Al Jadida, a huge pile of boulders used to be scattered where the family greenhouse stands today. For a widow, her three daughters, and their spinster aunt, removing these rocks by hand was hard work. These heavy stones came to symbolize all the obstacles that the Zaqzuk family had to overcome. There were many.
Raja, a widow who supports three daughters and three sons on no fixed income, used to struggle to put food on the table. Then, last year, she got help from the European Commission Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) through a Care International project
CARE aidworkers showed her how to set up a greenhouse and provided basic supplies. Now this family, who had to work as hired hands for local farmers during last years tomato harvest, can grow most of their own food.
Watermelons, lettuce, tomatoes, beans, zucchini, cucumbers and more flourish under plastic in their garden greenhouse with drip irrigation. Fig trees and grape arbors grow outside. And a bumper harvest can be swapped with neighbors or at the market for meat, eggs and special treats.
The sisters are proud to be doing this for themselves.
Their late father was a public schoolteacher, but because of the political situation in the West Bank, his salary was not paid for years. Raja told us how the family was forcibly repatriated from Kuwait during the first Gulf War. They abandoned all their belongings and started over again on the familys small plot of land in Al Jadida. Her husband kept busy teaching Arabic literature classes but postponed medical treatment for his sore back. He suffered a fatal stroke two years ago.
Since their father died, trying to attend classes while working as farmhands has been exhausting for the three shy sisters. And a conservative uncle disapproved of them labouring side by side with men in a strangers tomato field three kilometers away from home. He refused to drive them to work there. It was a matter of family honor, he said.
The girls insisted that they would continue going to class, because as orphans of a teacher, half the tuition was waived for them. They value education and want no ones pity. The European Commission Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) supports this greenhouse program for 70 households in this district through CARE . It requires recipients to roll up their sleeves and work,so they do feel empowered, not helpless or hungry anymore.
The Zaqzuk sisters would be too proud to accept a handout, but a hand up to boost their skills enables them to be self-sufficient.
The oldest sister told us that the main problem is coming up with the university fees every month. Nadiya, a spinster aunt, lives with them too, and cooks outdoors on a basic campfire to save money. Together the women have learned how to compost family garbage, inter-plant for natural pest control, and kill stubborn bugs with non-toxic remedies like baking soda. They decide what crops to plant and are reaping the nutritional benefits of more organic food. By defeating their own poverty, they preserve the family dignity in a small and conservative village.
November, 2008
Raja Ahmed Zaqzuk rests after clearing stones from her land in order to erect the greenhouse donated to her family by the European Commission Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) through a Care International project ,in El Jadida village near Jenin in the West Bank.
(Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images for CARE/ECHO)
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