Small Grants make a big impact

Wijdan (right) and Osama al Masri in their backyard greenhouse

tables and chairs so he can hold special events at the site. He has hosted one birthday party but lost out on hosting a wedding because he didn’t have all the needed equipment.

Wijdan and her husband Ossama al Masri operate Bait Al Ward

House of Flowers from their home in Umm Qais.

A grant of just under $3,000 US allowed them to triple the area of the plastic greenhouse behind their house. The couple has been growing plants for 3.5 years, selling to relatives, nearby neighbors and people from nearby villages.

Clients come to their home, and they deliver plants to people’s homes. Before they opened the business, their neighbors were driving 15 km (about 9.3 miles) to a neighboring village to buy plants.

They currently grow 400 different varieties and are planning to add more. Most of the plants they grow, including flowers, spider plants and Aloe vera, are ornamental. They are expanding

photos by Mike Strathdee

Tareq Massarweh sells purified water to Umm Qais residents and bags of ice to visiting tourists.

into more functional varieties. A grant from MEDA will help them to build a second greenhouse to grow thyme and a home showroom where customers can buy plants. Za’atar, a popular herb blend in regional cuisine, features thyme as the main ingredient. It is a staple in Jordanian breakfasts.

Expanding their operation will result in some seasonal job creation. They hire daily and hourly workers to bring sand to the greenhouse. They are also teaching a friend how to garden in exchange for helping at the greenhouse.

House of Flowers also has environmental benefits for the community. They use neighbors’ food scraps to compost and make fertilizer for their plants.

Tareq Massarweh, 27, runs a water filtration business. He is single and supports his parents.

Umm Qais residents like to buy bottled water to avoid unsafe salts and minerals and the sandy debris that sometimes comes out of taps.

Massarweh started the business in 2014. He sells water that people use for drinking, ironing and cooking out of his shop and delivers to customers’ homes within a four-mile radius of his main street storefront. He has two employees. After learning late last year about MEDA’s work, he applied for and received a $3,900 (US) grant. The money helped him to buy a new water purification system and an icemaker.

He also hopes to get new signs, do some marketing for his business and introduce glass jars as an alternative to the blue plastic jugs. Selling bags of ice to passing tourists will become a new line of business.

Before getting the new equipment, he had to sterilize plastic bottles by hand. Now in five minutes he can clean bottles that previously took a day to sterilize and dry. This helps him keep bottles in circulation. ◆

7 The Marketplace September October 2019