Woman carpenter proves it's not a man's world

Gaza Strip Every day at sunrise in Nusiarat camp, in the middle of the Gaza Strip, Amal Abu Rqaieq gets up and prepares for work. The 40-year-old mother earns a living as a carpenter, allowing her to take care of her 18-year-old disabled daughter.

Spending the day around small machinery, Amal is considered the first woman from the Gaza Strip to enter the woodworking field — previously viewed as the exclusive domain of men.

"In the beginning I was looking for an ordinary job matching my abilities as a woman but I didn't find anything," Amal said.

"Then I heard about a course in carpentry. I attended with 20 women but I was the only one who completed the course."

Amal used to live in Ramallah with her husband and daughter. However, at the beginning of the second Intifada, she decided to visit her family in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli authorities refused both mother and daughter permission to return to the West Bank. After years of separation from her husband, a period in which life was tough, she asked for a divorce in order to receive aid from the Ministry of Social Affairs.

However, that wasn't enough and she started looking for a job.

Amal said she initially was afraid of working as a carpenter because of what people were likely to think about her. She has long gotten over that is said she was "proud to be one of the first Palestinian woman to work in this field and provide professional products."

Etimad Adwan, a public relations officer from the Ministry of Social Affairs, said: "We try to help the women whose situations are similar to Amal's by providing courses... that might provide for them some income to support themselves and their families by."