Nabiha Badour, a 75-year-old Syrian woman, prepares dairy food in the backyard of her village house in the countryside of Sweida province, southern Syria, on June 21, 2021. Nabiha Badour refuses to stay home and wait for sons to take care of her. Instead, she chooses to do hard work to make her own living amid the harsh economic situation in the country.(Photo: Xinhua)
Nabiha Badour, a 75-year-old Syrian woman, lights up firewood in the backyard of her village house in the countryside of Sweida province, southern Syria, on June 21, 2021. Nabiha Badour refuses to stay home and wait for sons to take care of her. Instead, she chooses to do hard work to make her own living amid the harsh economic situation in the country.(Photo: Xinhua)
Nabiha Badour (R), a 75-year-old Syrian woman, sells milk in the backyard of her village house in the countryside of Sweida province, southern Syria, on June 21, 2021. Nabiha Badour refuses to stay home and wait for sons to take care of her. Instead, she chooses to do hard work to make her own living amid the harsh economic situation in the country.(Photo: Xinhua)
Nabiha Badour, a 75-year-old Syrian woman, lights up firewood in the backyard of her village house in the countryside of Sweida province, southern Syria, on June 21, 2021. Nabiha Badour refuses to stay home and wait for sons to take care of her. Instead, she chooses to do hard work to make her own living amid the harsh economic situation in the country.(Photo: Xinhua)
Nabiha Badour, a 75-year-old Syrian woman, refuses to stay home and wait for sons to take care of her. Instead, she chooses to do hard work to make her own living amid the harsh economic situation in the country.
At dawn, Badour wakes up and begins a long day's work with feeding chickens. Then she carries piles of firewood sticks to a small yard behind her village house in the countryside of Sweida province in southern Syria.
The woman lights the firewood and boils the milk to make yogurt, cheese, and ghee for the customers who have been impressed by her dairy products.
For most of the day, the lady keeps herself busy. The smoke from the fire couldn't erase the smile on her face.
After doing this job for 20 years, the woman believes that women, in general, have more stamina and determination than men, disagreeing with the perception of women as mere housewives.
"At the age of 35, I was a tailor making dresses. Afterward, I worked in handcrafts and many women helped me. I continued to do that not because I was poor or wanted to be rich but because I wanted to feel alive and productive," she told Xinhua.
Because the cooking gas was in shortage in her village, Badour now had to use firewood, which is much heavier to carry and inconvenient to use. But this didn't stop her from working.
She endured the laboring task of preparing firewood and the heavy smoke it produced without any complaint, despite her sons' repeated requests for her to retire and enjoy a less busy life.
Failing to persuade their mother, the children helped Badour collect firewood and stack them in piles.
Sanctions imposed on Syria have resulted in a lack of fuels, which affected millions in the country struggling to recover from a brutal civil war.
"I have been using firewood to cook the milk for two years amid the lack of cooking gas. This is tiring as you can see but I still maintain the same price even though I have to put more efforts using the firewood than the cooking gas," she said.
Badour encourages women to break social stereotypes, find a job they love and stay independent.
"We live in a tough situation as a result of the sanctions and war. However, women should be productive and our society should open more toward giving women a greater role to build the country," she said.
