Yazidi girls stitching up a future
“Our dad taught us how to sew,” explains Abeer.
Abeer’s father Abdel Jabar smiles proudly. “I learned when I was small. So we bought the sewing machine back in Sinjar and made sure to bring it with us when we left. It cost $300. It was the only thing we brought with us besides some blankets and pillows.”
It’s hot inside the tent at Jeddah camp 70 km south of Mosul, and clouds of choking dust blow by the door. Abdel Jabar chases away a flock of inquisitive children as his wife and daughters settle themselves on the bare concrete floor to speak with us.
Um Afrin, Abdel Jabar’s wife, speaks first about the family’s flight from Sinjar Mountain several months ago.
“When ISIS came, our life was turned upside down. Everything was changed. Everything was destroyed. We couldn’t leave three years ago. We were stuck. When the area was retaken, we left because it was just too hard to live there.
“We have nothing left. We had to sell all of our sheep. We really want to go home, but we have nothing.
“We want to go home and have a new, secure life, without war. But first, we need electricity, water, schools and other basic services in Sinjar. We need a break from this,” says Um Afrin.
Her daughters, 15 year old Abeer and 14 year old Zeinab, used to go to school in Sinjar, but stopped when they fled.
Abeer and Zeinab are at risk of becoming part of Iraq’s lost generation. Inconsistent or interrupted educations are leaving children illiterate and with little chance of gaining regular employment or financial security.
According to the “Cost of Education” report, which UNICEF published in May 2017 with the Government of Iraq, nearly 13.5% of school aged children do not have access to basic education. For displaced children, the rate is even higher — nearly half of those displaced are not in school.
The report highlights that girls are especially vulnerable to being excluded from formal educational settings, with boys far more likely to attend school at higher levels than girls.
For Abeer and Zeinab, learning a vocational skill at home is a safeguard for their future.
“Sometimes I want to go back to school, and sometimes I don’t,” says Abeer.
“No, she wants to go back to school but being displaced and in a new camp isn’t helping her,” interjects her mother.
Abeer’s younger sister Zeinab, is much less ambivalent. “I don’t do anything. I just sit in the tent. So I really want to go back to school. I want to be an Arabic teacher!”
UNICEF is working to make sure that girls like Abeer and Zeinab have the opportunity to continue their education at a school inside the camp, and refine their sewing skills through classes at one of our child friendly spaces run by the Women’s Rehabilitation Organization and supported by the government of Germany and European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (ECHO).
Sewing brings in a relatively steady income and helps the family buy supplies to supplement the rations provided. “The money they’ve made has helped us a lot,” says Um Afrin. “It’s helped us buy bread and other food for the family.”
“People inside the camp bring us cloth and ask us to make pants or dresses. We mend things, or we make custom orders.” explains Abeer. But the girls have plans for the future.
“If we are able to continue our education, we’ll try to go to college first. If not, we’ll keep sewing for a living. We want to develop our own brand so we can start a business, ” says Zeinab.
Abeer looks at her sister. “Maybe one day we’ll have our own label. We’ll be famous designers!”
Jennifer Sparks is a communications consultant with UNICEF Iraq.
