Yara, married with 4 children from Hurfeish
Today: the owner of a gift shop
“I’m fulfilling my lifetime dream. I’m contributing to the household income, but also manage to combine a career and family, neither of which adversely affects the other.”
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Yara, married and the mother of four from Hurfeish, comes from a traditional society. She completed 12 years of schooling and has a matriculation diploma, but never acquired a higher education after that. In the past, she worked briefly at a sewing factory.
Yara came to our Eshet Chayil program after the Be-Atzmi coordinator introduced the program to a group of women in her village. Yara joined the program because she needed to make a change. Since her marriage, she had devoted all her time to the family.
While taking part in the program, Yara attended the introductory team-building sessions, group employment workshop, and weekly individual mentoring sessions with the coordinator.
According to Yara: “The strength of the group helped me make a change in my worldview. Further to the process, I acquired courage and told myself that the time had come to open the business I’d always wanted, a gift shop. At first, my husband refused to give me support and help me open the business. In that matter as well, the program boosted my self-confidence and enabled me to eventually convince him to support the idea. I then began the process of starting the business. We built a 50-square meter building for my use as a store. When the construction was completed, I opened the shop and began working.”
“I had numerous conversations with the program coordinator, who listened, gave me advice and referred me to her contacts – to MATI (a small business development center), to a woman she knows who had opened a similar business, and to MAOF (another agency that helps small- and medium-sized businesses), so I could check whether assistance was available from them. The coordinator and participants in the group even helped me choose a name for my shop, which in the end I called Special Gift. So I’m now opening a big window in my life that I dreamt so much about.”
“Opening the shop is just the beginning. The next step will be making sure that the business is viable and successful. If we only remain with our dreams, nothing can go forward in life. You therefore have to take the first step courageously and fulfill your dream.”
“Thanks to the support and assistance surrounding me, the change has been profound and meaningful in my life. I recommend that every woman get out of the house, take part in and make use of Eshet Chayil because the program has a lot to offer. It helps you discover your inner strengths and get ahead in life, because the sky is the limit.”
“I’m fulfilling my lifetime dream. I’m contributing to the household income, whereas before my husband was the only breadwinner and we are a big family with four children. So I also manage to combine a career and family, neither of which adversely affects the other.”