Women find new opportunities in Arab Jabour

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Women find new opportunities in Arab Jabour

Kevin Stabinsky, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry DivisionPublic Affairs Office
Released : Thursday, June 12, 2008 6:41 PM
ARAB JABOUR, Iraq (June 10, 2008) -- She wears a head scarf andlong robe covering her from shoulder to toe; only her hands andface are visible. Yet despite her traditional clothing, Maha AzizAbass Al-Jabouri is working hard to cast aside the stereotypicalrole of women in the Arab Jabour region.
Abass, a language teacher at the al-Hamza School, is one of severalwomen in the village of Alemia who work to empower women in thearea.
"Before, our future was farming. Now we want jobs like the women inthe city," Abass said.
As the Rasheed Women's Council representative from Alemia, Abass isstriving to realize that dream.
Establishing the women's council was one of the 2nd Brigade CombatTeam, 3rd Infantry Division's most important accomplishments in thearea, said 1st Lt. Charles Staab, from Novi, Mich.
Staab, a platoon leader in Company A, 1st Battalion, 30th InfantryRegiment, said starting the council was a remarkable achievement,marking something women had never done there before.
"The importance lies in being a part of what's happening," he said."They can either watch what is happening or be a part of it, andthey are choosing to be a part."
Through involvement in the council, these women are getting theIraqi government to work to provide a better life for them. Theimproved security infrastructure in the area has provided the Iraqigovernment with a stronger foothold into helping its people.
"Before, when the bad guys were here, the government would nothelp. Now (the government is) giving money to make the areabetter," Abass said.
Abass, like many women in the area, was widowed because ofinsurgent violence, her husband killed by al-Qaida terrorists,leaving her to raise her three sons and two daughters alone.
Now, new opportunities are available, giving hope to Abass andothers like her.
Businesses catering to women are opening up, thanks to acombination of funding from coalition forces and the government ofIraq. A women's sewing shop has already opened in Alemia.
Abass hopes the Iraqi government will continue to support women'sinitiatives and create more opportunities. In her opinion, trainingin both health care and literacy are needed.
"I want my kids to get a better education," Abass said. "I hope mydaughters go to college and become engineers like their aunt."
Her sister, Suha Azit, a computer engineer, is also doing her partto empower women in the area. In addition to her regular job, Azithas opened up her own business, with the help of a grant from theIraqi government.
Azit said she has always had an interest in fashion. She is hopingto turn this interest into income through a beauty shop she openedtwo weeks ago.
"At age eight I was watching other women being made beautiful andfell in love with the idea," Azit said of her inspiration to openthe shop. Her shop offers women the latest makeup, hair styles andfashions from catalogs.
Just as she once worked as an apprentice at a beauty shop, Azit isnow employing another woman to learn the trade. In the mornings,when Azit is working as an engineer, her apprentice takes care ofthe shop.
The new kinds of work women are doing in Arab Jabour sends amessage that women are valuable members of the community with muchto contribute, Staab said. Empowering women also sends a strongmessage to al-Qaida members who once operated in the area.
"Women moving independently from their homes into the work forceand also meeting openly ... is showing their defiance towardal-Qaida, and shows their independence in this nation," Staab said.
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