She Lost Everything, But Not Her Dream: Sarah Rebuilds Her Business from Scratch in Jenin

JENIN, West Bank / PNN /

Sarah Wafeeq, owner of Blueberry Sweet, a shop specializing in supplies and products for celebrations and holidays, started her business during the coronavirus pandemic, when demand for home-based businesses and homemade food and sweets was growing.

Wafeeq said the idea grew out of a personal experience. She once ordered a product from someone else and was surprised by its high price compared with what she received. That experience made her think she could make the product herself, especially after family members and people around her encouraged her and told her she had the skills to do it.

She decided to give it a try, enrolling in several training courses to develop her skills and learn the basics of the business before beginning to produce and sell her own products.

Wafeeq started in the village of Anin, where her business received support and encouragement from customers. That response helped the project grow gradually and eventually encouraged her to expand to the city of Jenin, where she opened her own shop.

Before opening the shop, Wafeeq sought additional practical experience in different aspects of the business. She worked at several restaurants to learn more about production, sales and customer service, saying the experience gave her valuable hands-on knowledge.

She then prepared her own shop and chose a location near Jenin Governmental Hospital, marking what she hoped would be a new stage in the growth of her business.

That stage did not last long. The opening of the shop coincided with military incursions and unrest in the area, which directly affected her business. Wafeeq said conditions quickly became more difficult as areas were closed and access to her shop was restricted. She eventually suffered major losses to the equipment, tools and belongings she had invested in the business.

She described the situation as extremely difficult, particularly in the early days, when she tried to contact people to check on the shop and its contents. At first, she said, she was reassured that the damage was limited. It was only later that she learned the extent of the losses.

After waiting about one or two months, Wafeeq went to the municipality to register the damage to her shop. She said officials recorded the location of the business and documented information about the shop and the damage it had sustained.

But as the area remained closed, reaching the shop became impossible. Roads and entrances were blocked and movement was restricted, leaving her unable to access the business or assess its condition.

The losses effectively wiped out much of the equipment and tools she had relied on. Wafeeq was forced to start again from scratch, gradually rebuilding the business in an effort to preserve a dream that had begun during the coronavirus pandemic and developed step by step into a shop in Jenin.

When she returned to work, Wafeeq discovered that the losses were greater than she had expected. She said she no longer had any of the equipment and tools that had previously allowed her to operate the business efficiently.

Returning to work was difficult, particularly amid worsening economic conditions and declining demand for celebration and holiday supplies. The situation presented a new challenge: rebuilding a business from the ground up.

“I wanted to rebuild my name from scratch and build my customer base again from scratch, especially because I had nothing left,” she said.

The loss was not only financial. Wafeeq said it also took an emotional toll because she had already invested years in developing the business and had acquired equipment that allowed her to increase production while reducing the time and effort required.

Among the equipment she lost was a mixer with a capacity of about 30 liters, as well as a large oven and other tools. With that equipment, she said, she had been able to produce large quantities in a short period of time, including about 200 pieces of brownies in an hour.

After losing the equipment, she was forced to return to basic tools, including a hand mixer, which significantly slowed production.

She now works with smaller quantities and less efficient equipment. Tasks that once took about an hour can now take an entire day, and sometimes two days, depending on the size of the order.

The change has affected more than her business. Wafeeq said production now takes up a greater share of her time, leaving less time for her home and children.

The exhaustion, she said, comes not only from the financial loss but also from the physical and emotional effort required to rebuild the business, regain customers and restore the reputation she had worked for over the years.

Despite the setbacks, Wafeeq has gradually returned to work, rebuilding Blueberry Sweet step by step with the resources available to her. She hopes that, over time, she will be able to replace the lost equipment, increase production and regain the position her business had reached before the losses.

Wafeeq said leaving Anin, moving to Jenin and starting a new chapter in her professional life had not been an easy decision. She viewed the business as a step toward building a better future for herself and her children.

The idea of owning her own business had brought her a strong sense of happiness and achievement, she said, because she saw it as a way to help secure her children's future while gaining financial independence. Losing what she had built over several years was therefore particularly difficult.

What was harder than the loss itself, she said, was the feeling of being forced back to square one after years of work and effort. Since the beginning of the war, she said, she has spent nearly three years repeatedly trying to rebuild her life and business, only to find herself having to start over again.

Despite the hardship, Wafeeq said the experience taught her important lessons, particularly patience and the ability to confront difficult circumstances. She also said she tries to pass those lessons on to her children: Life is not without challenges, and people must learn how to face them and keep moving forward.

Her experience has strengthened her belief that every woman should have a business or source of work of her own, allowing her to rely on herself and continue despite difficult circumstances.

Wafeeq's message is that owning something of her own is about more than financial independence. It gives women a sense of strength, independence and the ability to keep going even under the most difficult circumstances.

She encourages women to start with whatever they can and not to give up on their dreams, regardless of the obstacles they face.

This video was produced as part of the Media Support in Times of Crisis project, implemented by the Palestine Network in cooperation with the Palestine Press Workshop.