Reports | 25 05 2020
During the past period, Umm Alaa began to work in the olive harvest, in the Houla area of the northern Homs countryside. The vagaries of life as well as her loss of her breadwinner, have forced her to accept a pittance, that barely sustains her livelihood.
Umm Alaa confirms that she was forced to work so as to help her children. The aid she receives from relief organizations, is not enough.
Thus, many of the Houla widows were forced into a variety of professions. Umm Khadr, for example, currently works in tailoring, after her husband was killed in the battles between the forces of the opposition and the regime; leaving her to face the difficulties of life alone.
More than 800 widows in Houla need monthly assistance, according to a charitable institution working in the town. Their number is increasing, thereby imposing new burdens onto Syrian women, who were forced to carry on their shoulders the responsibilities of supporting the family, as well as upbringing, amid difficult living conditions.