Gaza, March 8, 2010 (Pal Telegraph; by Fares Akeram and Sami Ajrami) -- Halima Ghaben, 47, doesn't care about competing with men at a market in Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza Strip. A mother of eight, she sells strawberries to make money for the family.

In a challenge to Gaza customs that a woman's place is in the home, Halima goes further than her house. Every morning, she jogs three miles to her truck farm, where she plants strawberries on land rented from her father-in-law, harvests whatever she can carry and heads for the market.

"I pay a rental of 300 Jordanian dinars (US$422) a year for the land, plus other expenses for irrigation, buying seedlings and fertilizer," she said when sitting on a plastic case behind a round silvery tray full of the red strawberries. "It's expensive but we succeed in handling it."

Clad in black gown, Halima is not sick of calling on people to buy four kg of strawberry for 10 Israeli shekels (about US$3), cheaper than any other place in Gaza.

Until Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza after Hamas seized full control of the coastal enclave in 2007, Halima could simply sell her crop to a merchant who would export them to Europe.

Though the prices of strawberries went down due the inability to export and high prices of seedlings, Halima did not give up her business that she has been building for years.

Her daily journey starts after making breakfast for her husband, who lost his job as a construction worker in Israel in 2001.

Sometimes, farming work keeps Halima there until sunset -- weeding on the farm and selling in the market. She spends several hours until the daily harvest is completely sold.

After a tedious day, Halima returns home with some greens, lentils, beans and other household items. She then cooks for the family using a gas stove that turns the kitchen's walls black.

"If I don't go out to work, the family will starve," she said. "Nobody helps us and my two elder sons are still looking for jobs while helping me in the farm." She is happy when it is strawberry season.

Halima's story is not rare. In Gaza markets, you would find women selling rabbits, poultry, eggs and herbs, as well as mint, parsley and basil.

"What I do here is better than begging or living a low life," a woman selling home-made white cheese said reluctantly.

Zainab al-Ghunimi, a lawyer and a women's rights activist, blamed the Israeli siege for more women forced to work unwillingly. "The siege, poverty and unemployment of thousands of workers let many women go to seek work randomly and sometimes they are not professionally or mentality qualified for work."

Women form 14 percent of the workforce in Gaza, she said. But women like Halima may not recognize themselves employed in order to benefit from aid for the poor, she added.

Source: Xinhua