Young Balqa woman takes society in a healthy direction

AMMAN — The lack of any local nutrition centres in a Balqa town planted an idea in the mind of a young Jordanian woman to fill the need she saw in her community.

In 2018, Eman Abu Siam started a centre in the town Deir Alla in northeast Balqa. 

She was among young entrepreneurs from around Jordan who met with His Majesty King Abdullah on Sunday. During the meeting, His Majesty reaffirmed his keenness to support young Jordanians’ innovative projects, heard from the entrepreneurs and voiced pride in their achievements. 

Eman’s story started in 2016, when, freshly graduated, she trained and worked in a hospital in Salt, then moved to a private nutrition centre.

“When I left my job at the centre, it was because I felt that I’d had enough training and experience to open my own centre. I thought long and hard about where to do it, and I couldn’t help but make the risky choice of starting the first centre in my own town,” she told The Jordan Times in a recent phone interview.

“It felt right to start helping my own community first,” she added.

Eman’s only problem at the time was that she needed capital to open the centre, so she turned to the Development and Employment Fund for support.

Having received the funding she needed in the form of a loan, she then opened her first centre, which focuses on nutrition, obesity and healthy eating habits.

“At first, the people of my town would have to drive for an hour to reach either Amman or Irbid, which is why many of them ignored serious health issues. Time and transportation costs were a problem. Thankfully, they are not anymore,” said Eman.

The young entrepreneur does not just help her townspeople through the centre. She also organises specialised lectures, broadcasts awareness messages through the centre's Facebook page and employs local talents to work alongside her.

“I aspire to expand the project to include a fitness centre as well, as that would complement the nutrition centre’s work and employ even more people,” she concluded.