Productive and creative families have proved that they have many brilliant ideas. These families, with different talents such as sewing, dressmaking, and cooking, deserve to be supported. More than 50 families promoted their products at an Exhibition of Family Necessities, a recent event in Jeddah. Ayedah Al-Amri, a member of a productive family, said there is a lack of financial and official support. “I'm a businesswoman in the beginning of my career and I belong to a productive family,” she said. “We do not have an association; we work under the umbrella of the Chamber of Commerce. We are still waiting to have our own business licenses. There are around 700 productive families whose members include businesswomen, college-educated women and limited-income women. They make their own products, but they can't sell them because they can't afford to have their own private stores,” Al-Amri was quoted by Al-Jazirah Arabic newspaper as saying. Productive families bring social and economic returns to society; they make clothes, accessories, food, etc., and sell them either from their homes or at local bazaars, Al-Amri added. “Most productive families can't rent a store inside bazaars because of high rents,” she said. Productive families need financial support and low-cost spaces at exhibitions and bazaars so they can promote their products, Al-Amri said. The Jeddah event was a welcome opportunity for her family and others, she said. “As you can see, this exhibition has over 30 productive families offering high-quality products ranging from abayas to accessories, all made by Saudi women,” she said. “If these families get financial support, they will develop their products and start their own small businesses, which will help them live decent lives without having to rely on social-aid money.” Some exhibitions rent places for productive families for SR30,000, SR35,000 and SR40,000, Al-Amri said. “These are exorbitant prices and productive families cannot afford to pay,” she said. “I hope that Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah region, encourages businessmen to support these families and allow them to rent spaces for low prices.” Awad Al-Zahrani, a businessman and exhibition organizer, said there is a responsibility to help people and families trying to climb out of difficult situations. “It is incumbent upon us to help these poor families and stand by them,” he said. “As you can see, there are 50 poor families participating with high-quality products made by their own hands. In order to encourage them, we have provided them with low-price spaces to exhibit their products. All businessmen should support these families and help them stand on their own feet and earn their living without relying on social aid.” Hayat Mahfoud, a Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry official who is in charge of working with productive families, said he and his colleagues work to help the entrepreneurs get affordable locations to sell what they make. “We try to find bazaars for productive families where they can promote their products to the public without having to pay hefty rents,” he said. “Some productive families have brilliant ideas and they are educated, but they don't have the financial capability to open a store and promote their products, and that's why they go to bazaars. Bazaars are the only places where these families can display their products.” The JCCI, he said, has several groups to monitor the quality of products made by more than 750 productive families. “Some productive families were able to open a store to sell products while some are still marketing their products from home or at bazaars,” he said. “I hope that the Chambers of Commerce, Ministry of Social Affairs, businessmen and businesswomen all join forces and help these needy families promote their products and become independent.” Charity group helps One of the biggest supporters of productive families is Al-Faisaliyah Women's Charity Organization in Jeddah; it created the Sulaisilah Center for Modern Handicraft and Art, which supports productive families and focuses on girls in needy families, limited-income families and people with disabilities. The center aims to: n Reduce poverty and unemployment, and promote Saudi hand-made products. n Improve the economic situations of girls in needy families. n Offer opportunities to people with physical disabilities to make and sell their products and play active roles in society. It offers training courses to girls to teach art work and basic drawing, and promotes productive families' products at bazaars and annual exhibitions in the Kingdom and other Gulf countries.
