Firyal Zurub is one of the women organizing the handcraft exhibition at the International Women’s day. Firyal is a rural woman, forty eight years old, lives in western Rafah, and she was one of the women who refused to be a bound of the traditions and fought against the bad economical situation.

Her story begins when she was fourteen years old. She got married while she did not complete her preparatory school education. Her husband was solvent as he was working in Israel with a monthly income exceeds 5000 NIS. When the Intifada took place everybody was deprived from working inside the green line, as a result the economical situation of Firyal’s family, which consists of 5 boys and 4 girls, got worse. Firyal decided to help her family after they ran out of their savings and became poor. She tried to look for a job after her husband failed to cover their family’s basic needs, but she failed due to lack of needed educational qualification and the refusal of her husband to let her out without an advantage.

Firyal heard about the Projects of MOA - Food For Work and Food for Training – funded by World Food Programme (WFP), as the conditions of this project fits on Firyal she had the chance to get benefit from it and she got several trainings such as animal husbandry, home gardening, small projects, handcrafts, etc… Firyal was committed to attend the trainings as her husband encouraged her because of the food basket they are receiving. During the training, the trainers urged and encouraged women to enroll with the concerned authorities to continue their education. That was another beginning for Firyal as she resumed her study and finished her preparatory and secondary education in one year. Her ambition did not stop here as her colleagues and trainers encouraged here to join the university and to study social studies. Firyal said that she received help from WFP through food for training project and from the university through student’s loan to cover her study expenses.

Now Firyal became one of the trainers of handcrafts assisting the Ministry of Agriculture and helping in covering minor social issues. Firyal pointed out that she’s always trying to help women who lost their ways and chances of education. She started with her children as she keeps urging them to continue their education and trying hardly to provide their needs. Firyal is proud of her achievements and she wishes all women would get their chances to learn, work and improve themselves and she thanks WFP for giving her this chance and taking her hand to navigate a better life.