PERSONAL: Gaza student becomes family's sole earner, sells hummus to make ends meet

Record ID: 1819119

  • Title: PERSONAL: Gaza student becomes family's sole earner, sells hummus to make ends meet
  • Date: 4th April 2024
  • Summary: DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA (APRIL 2, 2024) (OBTAINED BY REUTERS) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENT, BASMA AL-SHAWISH WALKING INTO BUILDING VARIOUS OF AL-SHAWISH PREPARING HUMMUS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENT, BASMA AL-SHAWISH, SAYING: "My name is Basma. I am 20 years old from Gaza, displaced in Deir al-Balah. I was studying accountancy in my second year at university but now I sell hummus. I had to work, not because I wanted to be in this line of work but because my father passed away and my siblings too so I am supporting my family (financially), I am taking care of my family and right now I'm preparing the hummus." VARIOUS OF AL-SHAWISH PREPARING HUMMUS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENT, BASMA AL-SHAWISH, SAYING: "During this war we have experienced extremely harsh circumstances and we are the victims of this war. We are victims because our house was bombed and my siblings were martyred. A while after my siblings were martyred, my father was martyred -- he was lost and after that we found out that he was martyred and even his body never returned to us. They said the Jews (referring to Israelis) threw him away in plastic rubbish bags and we also got news that he was removed by bulldozers in the streets. Till now, we have not seen his body at all. So I had to go out and work because no one looks after anyone else in the kind of situation we are in." VARIOUS OF AL-SHAWISH PREPARING HUMMUS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENT, BASMA AL-SHAWISH, SAYING: "I'm happy with this work. I'd rather work tirelessly and never have to ask anyone for anything. This work is enough for me; that I can work and support my family financially and despite trying as much as I can to provide everything, and I try to provide the basics because this work doesn't provide everything but I try and provide the basics with this work." AL-SHAWISH STIRRING POT OF HUMMUS AL-SHAWISH DISHING UP HUMMUS INTO PLASTIC BOWLS HAND GARNISHING BOWLS OF HUMMUS AL-SHAWISH GARNISHING BOWLS OF HUMMUS AL-SHAWISH STACKING COVERED BOWLS OF HUMMUS AL-SHAWISH LEAVING WITH A LARGE TRAY OF BOWLS OF HUMMUS AL-SHAWISH WALKING, PLACING BOWLS OF HUMMUS ON DONKEY CART (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENT, BASMA AL-SHAWISH, SAYING: "The circumstances are of course very difficult. I am displaced in a school here and even gas is not available at all. I use the fire - everything that I need to heat up, I heat up on the fire. I face a lot of problems with the ingredients I need for the hummus - for example, the bread takes a while from the bakery, the chickpeas are expensive - tahini, a kilogram of tahini is now 120 Shekels, it's also very expensive. I buy the ingredients in the morning, after I buy the ingredients, I come here and I prepare it all - I start work at 6 in the morning and I finish at say 5 o'clock or 4 o'clock and I don't go home till the evening." AL-SHAWISH WALKING ALONG SIDE MOVING DONKEY CART CARRYING PLATES OF HUMMUS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENT, BASMA AL-SHAWISH, SAYING: "It's now Asr (prayer time) and so usually at this time I go to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and I start selling the bowls of hummus. Today the quantity I've made is neither a lot or a little. I leave the school, we put the hummus on the donkey cart, and we go to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital." EXTERIOR OF AL-AQSA MARTYRS HOSPITAL / AL-SHAWISH ARRIVING WITH HUMMUS VARIOUS OF AL-SHAWISH PLACING BOWLS OF HUMMUS ON TABLE ON DISPLAY VARIOUS OF AL-SHAWISH SELLING HUMMUS, PEOPLE BUYING
  • Embargoed: 18th April 2024 09:04
  • Keywords: BREADWINNER DISPLACED FAMILY GAZA HUMMUS ISRAEL STUDENT WAR WORK
  • Location: DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA
  • City: DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA
  • Country: Palestinian Occupied Territory
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East
  • Reuters ID: LVA001269304042024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Twenty-year-old Basma Al-Shawish was once an accountancy student at university in Gaza. Today she has to sell bowls of hummus in Deir al-Balah, where she has been displaced, to financially support what remains of her family.
    Al-Shawish told Reuters that Israel's war on Gaza has had a harsh impact on her and her family's lives. Her home was struck by Israeli bombing and she has so far lost siblings and her father to the war.
    Her father's body was never returned to the family, she said.
    "They said the Jews (referring to Israelis) threw him away in plastic rubbish bags and we also got news that he was removed by bulldozers in the streets. Till now, we have not seen his body at all," she added.
    As a result, Al-Shawish now has to support herself and what remains of her family.
    Her working day starts at six in the morning when she heads out to gather all the ingredients she needs. On return, she spends time preparing and plating the hummus in single bowls. Al-Shawish then travels to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, transporting her hummus by donkey cart, and sells her day's batch there on the street.
    It is not an easy task, she told Reuters.
    "The circumstances are of course very difficult. I am displaced in a school here and even gas is not available at all. I use the fire - everything that I need to heat up, I heat up on the fire. I face a lot of problems with the ingredients I need for the hummus - for example, the bread takes a while from the bakery, the chickpeas are expensive - tahini, a kilogram of tahini is now 120 Shekels ($32), it's also very expensive," she said.
    But Al-Shawish says she is happy to support her family financially and though her new job brings in a low income, Al-Shawish says she is able to provide herself and her family with the basics through it.
    More than 33,037 Palestinians have been killed and 75,668 have been injured in Israeli military offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Thursday (April 4).
    Some 62 Palestinians were killed and 91 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.
    (Production: Doaa Rouqa, Fadi Shana, Imad Creidi, Dina Selim)
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