Citizens in the Gaza Strip face many problems and challenges, above all unemployment and living below the poverty line in the context of conflict and crisis. Wishing to have a better life, Palestinian citizen Salama Badawan and his wife, Alaa, decided not to succumb to unemployment. They, therefore, started to grow various aloe vera plants on the rooftop of their home located in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. They extract the gel from the core of leaves to produce organic soap.
Salama, 40, said that he chose the rooftop of his home for several reasons. Most importantly, he wished to have a small garden. Therefore, he turned the roof into a park, full of attractive plants, pointing out that there he found no alternative place to start his business.
He went on to say that his passion for waste recycling helped him to establish what he described as a unique decoration of his home’s rooftop. He reused vehicle tires and plastic cans as pots for planting after exterior colouring and refurbishment.
On the other hand, Salama explained that he started his project by planting roses on the rooftop, but this attempt was unsuccessful because of the high temperature there. He finally resorted to growing aloe vera because it grows there very well and adapts to the climatic conditions whatever.
Salama also noted that he looked for income from growing plants on his rooftop. In the end, he chose to grow aloe vera to extract the gel from its leaves that is used in the production of some cosmetics and organic soap. What encouraged him to go for this choice is the fact that aloe vera gel is used in several forms, such as the production of skin and hair care products.
Similarly, Salama’s wife, Alaa Badawan, 37, says that she has completed her undergraduate study in educational psychology and has not found a job. She has tried to get over unemployment in many ways.
She first learned how to extract the aloe vera gel and use it to produce soap from the internet. She then participated in specialist workshops in Gaza to understand the soap production industry.
Alaa spoke of mixing aloe vera with natural oils to better harness this natural element in the production of soap—she now can produce different types of soap.
She also explained the process. She extracts aloe vera gel from leaves, mixes it with natural oils, gives it some time to get ready, and then wraps the products.
She concluded by saying about their suffering from limited production due to the narrow area in which they cultivate aloe vera and hoped that any institution would adopt supporting this project in order to increase production and income.