Ibtisam Awais, 37, is the owner of the Ibtisam Educational Aids Project. Working from her home in the Gaza Strip, she is able to provide for her three children while contributing to her community.
Ibtisam Awais is a 37-year-old Palestinian refugee from the town of Al-Jamamah – a destroyed Palestinian village located in the Deir al-Sabara region in southern Palestine.
She is the owner of the Ibtisam Educational Aids Project. Working from her home in the Gaza Strip, she is able to provide for her three children, two boys and a girl, while contributing to her community.
“The project was launched in 2016 as a hobby,” Ibtisam told The Palestine Chronicle. But, since then, it has grown.
“One of my daughter’s teachers asked her to do a classroom activity, this made me think that I could create other activities for young students,” she added.
The idea behind the project is to provide educational activities to both male and female students at an affordable fee.
Ibtisam’s work allows students to benefit from a modern education approach, especially grounded in the ‘learning by playing’ theory.
Ibtisam faces manifold challenges, especially due to the lack of electricity in besieged Gaza.
“We need to use computers and printers to develop our projects,” Ibtisam told us, equipment to which she has limited access.
However, Ibtisam is determined to continue with her work.
“My future projects include a bookstore. This will help me expand my outreach, but also to provide for my children, as I am their only breadwinner,” she said.
(All Photos: Mahmoud Ajjour, The Palestine Chronicle)
– Mahmoud Ajjour is a Gaza-based photojournalist. He is the Palestine Chronicle’s correspondent in the Gaza Strip.
