Gaza City – Amani Dweima came to the living room with her 16 -year -old daughter, Aya.
The 39 -year -old man wants his eyebrows, and Aya wants a face full of makeup; There is a wedding scheduled that evening after Iftar.
“The marriage of my niece,” says Amani. “We celebrate the bride with a small family gathering before the groom takes him to their tent.”
Noor lounge
The living room is a small blue tent with a single table inside surmounted by a damaged mirror, depilation tools, moisturizers and makeup.
Outside the Al-Shujaeya tent east of Gaza City, a white handwritten sign indicating: “Noor’s Salon” is suspended near the entrance to healing.
It is Noor al-Ghamari’s fair, a dream project for the young woman who left nursing care to continue her love of hair and makeup.
She installed it about three weeks ago on a destroyed sidewalk, the only option available when she and her family returned north of their trip to the south.
After welcoming Amani and Aya, she begins to soften a small piece of sugar paste, knead him gently in her hands and work.
“Since I opened, so many women have come to see me with heartbreaking stories … to lose their family and loved ones. They arrive exhausted, their faces drained in light, ”said Noor.
The idea of a beauty salon in the middle of the war may seem strange, Amani and Noor agree, but the act of autoos can help women.
“Women come to see me tents, overcrowded schools or the ruins of their destroyed houses.
“I try to offer them a moment of comfort, a small escape. My main goal is to let even be a little lighter, a little happier. »»
Amani, who was moved to Deir El-Balah and who recently returned to the North, did not think of going to an esthetician at the start of the war.
Finally, she came across a living room similar to Deir El-Balah and started going as regularly as she could.
“The management of me changes my mood, especially when I see my reflection in the mirror. I always want to look presentable.
“The tragedies around us never end. Visiting a beauty salon is … a small escape from all the difficulties surrounding us, ”she adds.
Back in the North, she was “delighted” when she saw the Noor show and immediately broadcast the good news to her neighbors and parents.
Beauty in the middle of war
Noor thinks that the war was particularly cruel to women in Gaza – stripping them of their house and their safety and their ability to take care of themselves when they have poured their energy in survival.
“I have seen many women whose skin was completely burned by the sun to live in tents, to cook constantly on wood fires, to wash the clothes by hand and to transport heavy water containers,” she said.
“In addition to that, they have no privacy in overcrowded travel camps, not to mention fear, bombing and all the horrors of the war.”
And yet, she said, she has had customers of all ages who believe that personal care is essential for them.
“I met many women who could not have a single stray hair on their face or eyebrows. Some came to see me every week, others regularly or occasionally, ”explains Noor.
She remembers a client that she obtained once, a woman at the beginning of the thirties who had crossed a huge trauma when her parents and all her brothers and sisters were killed during an Israeli air raid.
Faced with her loss meant that the woman had lost any desire to do anything.
“I felt so deep for her,” says Noor.
“I gave it a complete treatment – the thread, the formatting of the eyebrows, a haircut, even a free facial massage and a mask.
“When she looked in the mirror, her eyes filled with happy tears.”
Hang on to dreams
The War of Israel against Gaza began as Noor dreamed, presenting the plans for the show – bricks and mortar.
Like everyone in Gaza, her life and her plans were upset while she, her parents and eight brothers and sisters were forced to flee south after Israeli evacuation.
During the first two months, her only thoughts were of survival and to help her family, she said.
“But after the first months, when we settled in a travel camp in the south, I heard women say things like:” If only there was a hairdresser or a living room nearby so that we can take care of ourselves a little. “”
“I replied:” I am a esthetician! ” Rit Noor.
“Women would catch me as if they had just found a treasure, and I would start to work immediately.”
Some women came to her, while she went to others in their tents – according to their needs.
Now her work has become an essential source of income for her and her family during the war, even if she cannot invoice her five to eight customers a day.
“I live here, I understand reality,” she said, explaining why she maintains her low prices.
‘War has aged us’
Amani seems agitated while Noor ends his face.
She asks if Noor can dye her hair, but Noor cannot.
“There is no water in this area,” she explains. “The dye needs running water, and my tent is on the sidewalk, surrounded by destruction – there is no water, no electricity, nothing.
“I am content with the simplest equipment and only offer basic services.”
Amani sighs, passing his fingers in her graying hair under her hijab.
“I only had a few gray hairs. But now it’s everywhere. This war has aged us, ”she said with a sad smile.
Noor moved his attention to Aya, discussing the color of her dress to choose matching makeup.
“I brought my daughter today so that she can take care of herself – like a way to cheer up,” said Amani, smiling to her daughter, whose eyes are closed for an application of eyeshadows.
“I want her to grow up knowing that she should always take care of herself, whatever happens.
“I also want to bring him joy. What we saw during this war was beyond devastation. »»
While Noor adds her final touch to Aya’s makeup, she speaks with hopes of her dreams.
“More than anything, I want this war to end so that I can extend my business, move to an appropriate living room and offer more services.
“But my message to all women is: take care of yourself, whatever happens. Life is short.
