Azem self-employment project helps mother of 2 launch meat business

AMMAN — In pursuit of her dream of owning her own business, Niveen Madi, a mother of two, overcame numerous barriers and set up a business perceived as non-traditional for women: The first female butcher in the Kingdom.

Madi, who lived with her children and mother who has several chronic medical conditions, in a small rented apartment, was the sole breadwinner for the family.

“I started my first job as an exhibition employee at the grocery section of a huge commercial company for one year. After that, I moved to a food company as a production worker at the packing department. Unfortunately, due to the COVID pandemic crisis, the company stopped its business and I lost my job, the sole financial resource for my family,” she said.

She did not give up and continued searching for a job. Her dream came through a self-employment project funded by UNICEF and implemented by the Business Development Centre (BDC). 

Madi submitted an application to the Azem “Vocational Training for Employment” project.

“Through the Azem project’s training programmes, I was equipped with the soft and technical skills that are needed to succeed in starting my own butchery business in Jabal Tareq area in the Zarqa governorate,” she said.

“The support of the Azem project was beyond capacity building and entrepreneurial skills. The project supported me with the whole equipment to establish my own butchery,” she said. 

Despite the social and market challenges, Madi said she was “never hesitant to enter a non-traditional career for females”.

“Today, I am thinking of becoming a trainer for other females in the same field to help them break cultural barriers.  It’s true that this profession is sort of strenuous but it’s full of benefits,” she said. 

(The BDC contributed this article to The Jordan Times)