Refugee Stories
"Mother
Aysha" wins "Best UN Short" prize
in first UN Documentary Film Festival, NYC
Jerusalem, 8 June 2006
The short documentary film "Mother Aysha", produced
by UNRWAÕs Headquarters Public Information Office, has won the
best United Nations short film award in the festival entitled: "Stories
from the Field: the First United Nations Documentary Film Festival".
"Mother Aysha", photographed and
directed by Johan Eriksson, depicts the entrepreneurship of a 65-year-old
Palestinian female refugee, residing in Gaza City, who is a client of UNRWAÕs
Microfinance and Microcredit Programme. At the time of filming, Mother Aysha
supported 26 of her family members with her clothes business. Aysha currently
supports 24 members of her family with the business, ranging from three to
forty years of age, eighteen of whom are under the age of eighteen. "IÕve
been working like this for 35 years. My passion is to trade, buy and
sell", reveals Aysha.
The film sheds light on the obstacles Aysha
has overcome through dramatic but often humorous scenes. Aysha defied the male
members of her family when, as a young woman, she first pursued a career as a
tradeswoman. "They tried to stop me, but they couldnÕt",
she recalls. "IÕm like a smoking addict. I have the cravings for it.
All the patterns are stored in my head. Even though I canÕt
read, I copy beautiful patterns from pictures in magazines".
Aysha first became a client of UNRWAÕs
Microfinance and Microcredit Programme in 1994 with a loan of 1,000 NIS. Eleven
years and sixteen loans later, including her most recent loan for $4,000, her
business has expanded and enabled her to support her family. "If you take
a loan, you have to pay it back", is the advice Aysha gives to other women
wanting to start their own business.
The UN Department of Public Information, the
New School for Social Research and the Media Communications Association Ð
International/ New York handed over the Prize to UNRWAÕs
Office in New York. "Mother Aysha" competed with several short
documentaries screened at the festival held on 22-23 April, 2006.
UNRWAÕs Microfinance
and Microenterprise Programme (MMP) began operating in 1991. Since then it has
disbursed more than 100,000 loans, at a value of over $100,000,000. In
September 2005, MMP had 14,188 active clients, with a typical loan averaging
$800 dollars. The average overall repayment rate among active clients is high,
at more than 96 per cent.
For mor information on UNRWAÕs Microfinance and Microenterprise Programme
(MMP) go to http://www.un.org/unrwa/programmes/mmp/index.html
"Mother Aysha"
Running length: 9 minutes
Camera: Johan Eriksson
Editing: Abed Zhran
Translation: Salim Musallam
Produced by UNRWA 2005