Local aid group gives women new start

In a living room turned into a classroom at Al-Marfa Women's Knowledge Foundation, 30 women listen to a lecture on the Koran. In the kitchen, three women prepare snacks to sell for lunch. Upstairs in the sewing room, several other women package children's clothes sewn by their colleagues. When not working to sell their products, the women take courses in English language and basic computer skills. "Computer and English language classes can help these women find jobs," Rashed Zaidan, director of the group, told IRIN. "These women want to learn. They want to develop themselves." The large but nondescript stucco house - in a strongly Sunni Muslim neighborhood on the western outskirts of Baghdad - does not advertise its presence except for a small banner hung on the fence around the yard and the cars parked across the street. Al-Marfa's location and its work may seem completely innocuous to a foreigner. But in Iraq, very few women go out on the streets alone without a male relative, much less have somewhere they can work and learn with friends and colleagues. Rashed Zaidan and her friend May Younis al-Samari say they got the idea to start a women's group and help agency last June as they tried to deal with the despair among their friends after coalition forces entered Iraq. Many women around the country were scared to go outside for weeks, Zaidan said, adding that many families were already traumatised from years of war. "This gives us a chance to lessen the psychological pressure on these women," Zaidan said. At first, the group started off as a traditional Muslim charity, giving money to 150 poor families, Zaidan said. Then, the women started branching out, teaching skills to women in poor families so they could pay for themselves. Then came lectures and the pharmacy and a small clinic in a room downstairs. "This centre awakened the women. It made me remember my time in college," said group member Omara al-Dulaimi. "We used to stick completely to the kitchen. Now, we can feel like we are taking part in life." British-based aid agency Muslim Hands pays for the sewing materials and machines for the women's group, Nawfal al-Rawi, Muslim Hands' Iraq director, told IRIN. It is also ready to buy some of the clothes from the women to donate to other agencies. It now looks like the group could be about to turn a profit, al-Rawi said. Already, the group has bought a couple of computers with money it earned from clothes the women sold, Zaidan explained, adding that Life, an American-based aid agency, had also donated a sewing machine and two computers. If the agency becomes self-sustaining, it will be unique among aid agencies, most of which receive constant outside funding. About 450 women belong to the centre. More than 60 work as volunteers, up to nine receive a salary. In the future, the group plans to offer enrichment classes to school children to make money to develop more programmes for the women. It may also expand its cooking and sewing operations, Zaidan said. An estimated 2,000 local aid agencies have sprung up in Iraq, according to unofficial figures, dealing with everything from medical supplies to sports groups. The US-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and Ministry of Planning officials have called on aid agencies to register for tax-free status on goods they bring into the country, but there's no way to tell what percentage of those that exist have declared their work to the government.