SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region - A young Kurdish girl has opened the doors of the first florist shop in the bordering town of Penjwen in eastern Sulaimani.
Dekan Adil, 19, opened her flower shop last month. She assembles bouquets of colorful flowers per request every day.
"Penjwen is a small town. When I started to think about what work I should do, I knew there were all types of businesses in town, other than such shops [flower shops]. For example, if somebody wanted to buy a gift for a loved one or a bouquet of flowers for a bride or any woman, they had to go to Sulaimani or other cities to get them or order them online,” Adil told Rudaw over the weekend.
In addition to flowers, Adil also prepares gift boxes and sells her products online to people from across the Kurdistan Region.
Adil’s startup has given an opportunity to another woman to work at the florist shop at a time where the Region is still recovering from years of economic woes that harshly hit small and medium-sized enterprises.
"In the beginning, I was a little bit reluctant and afraid of embarking on this business, thinking maybe it would not be welcomed by the public, and thinking and if the job was successful, there would have been at least a flower shop in town," she said. "Thanks be to God, it was not the case at all as it was warmly welcomed."
The history of women entrepreneurs in Penjwen dates back to 1946 when Rabia Mufti Penjweni became the first female to work in her father's shop. Mufti Penjweni is a renowned Kurdish poet who died in 1952, at the age of 71.
Located on the border with Iran, Penjwen is home to spectacular lush forests and mountains. However, most of the town was destroyed during the Iran-Iraq war, leading to the displacement of thousands of its residents.
