Syrian women in Jordan celebrate graduation from small business course
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Kawkab Bardan, a refugee from Syria, at a graduation ceremony for her and 24 other women who successfully completed a Start Your Business course in Zarqa, Jordan. The 15-day course was sponsored by the Department of Service for Palestinian Refugees of the Middle East Council of Churches, a member of the ACT Alliance.
Refugees are not allowed to obtain formal employment in Jordan, but the women can run small businesses from their homes. Bardan said she doesn't blame the government for the restrictions. "I understand. They've got a high unemployment rate," she said.
Yet Bardan says women in Syria often don't even have the limited opportunities she has available. "I was only a housewife there, and couldn't even go out by myself," she said. "But now I'm starting a business selling stuffed grape leaves and sweet pastries. I've got a strategy, and self-esteem and self-dependence. I'm going to be successful."
Bardan lives in Hitteen, a Palestinian refugee camp in Zarqa. She says her family settled there because it was cheap. "And the Palestinians, because they themselves have suffered so much, understood our situation and reached out to help us when we arrived," she said.
- Filename
- jordan_2015_jeffrey_refugees_B246.JPG
- Copyright
- Paul Jeffrey
- Image Size
- 6383x4158 / 11.3MB
- Contained in galleries
- Refugees in Zarqa

