This morning while I was making some tea for breakfast, my landlord’s copy of Time magazine drew my attention. The issue was a special edition that presented the world’s 100 most influential figures. As I was leafing through the magazine, I saw that an Iraqi woman was considered one of those influential figures. Seeing this made my day. It left me with a sense of optimism that despite all the horror Iraqis are going through under occupation and terrorism, there are people like this woman whose efforts are like bricks rebuilding what was destroyed.
By Queen Rania
It's not every day that success stories echo out of Iraq into the halls of power, but Madeeha Hasan Odhaib defies the norm. Armed with her sewing machine, unflinching stoicism and determination, Madeeha, 37, is mending the fabric of Iraq.
Four years ago, this mother of two and seamstress turned district council member took three sewing machines, leveraged them into 60 and built a business sewing hospital sheets and flags. She now employs 100 women. That figure may seem insignificant compared with the accomplishments of other achievers on TIME's list. But in a country with more than 60% unemployment and rampant poverty, such efforts provide a lifeline. Each woman Madeeha employs returns home with an invaluable sense of self-respect, money in her purse, food for her children and optimism for a daughter desperately seeking a role model amid mayhem. Madeeha also treads—or, rather, threads—the line between activism and heroism. She has coordinated with the Red Crescent, Red Cross, Hands of Mercy and Iraqi army to distribute food around Baghdad. And despite threats, she says she'll never give up.
Iraq is suffering one of the worst humanitarian crises we have ever seen. While Madeeha rightly makes Time's list, women like her are found throughout Iraq, sewing hope one stitch at a time. Through Madeeha, we celebrate all of Iraq's courageous women, whose resilience and resourcefulness hold the promise of a new dawn.
Queen Rania of Jordan is a champion of women's rights in the Middle East
7 Comments:
Treasure,
Maybe you should make sure that
Star of Mosul and her sister see this?
I have a particularly tender spot for families of daughters. Priority within a community should be given to girls if all things are equal, and a family in the community dahas only resources to allow 1 an education.
That's a great story BT! I hope that other Iraqi women will learn about Madeeha's courage and determination and be inspired by her example.
I have been very impressed by Queen Rania's writing skills and her caring about other people. She is really something special!
Dear Treasure of Baghdad,
There are still some good people in Iraq who are still working for the others but the problem is the bad people number is much bigger..
The worse part is the neutral people, there number is much bigger than the two parts but they are too careless to take the good side, they are thinking of themselves more than thinking about their country or the people and this is what made the bad people number increases every day because no one is stopping them and some others joined them..
I know about this because,
I was there..
She's one in a million :-)
Thank you for posting her story.
i don't believe that iwasthere.
i am sure there are more good people than bad in iraq. and i doubt there are many neutral people.
thank you for posting about this beautiful person.
Women are roughly 50% of the population and for 100's of years women in general have been denied the same equality of opportunity. This will change in the future as it is changing now. I don't believe they will dominate over men in the same way that men have dominated; for that would be equal ignorance, but they will become equal partners or slightly more influential than men. My belief is based on what I have gathered from the Bahai writings. This is not a specific verse, but a general impression of understanding of what the future will be like.
Thank you for posting this.
That there are many inspiring souls in Iraq does not surprise me.
The fact that their stories are not told wide and far ... does.
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