海角大神

It's a rainy day in the West Bank聽village of Ajoul, and when the kids get out of school a few dart into聽Myassar Issa's mini-market to buy sweets before running home up the聽muddy hills leading out of the valley.

They're part of the steady stream of customers that have helped Mrs.聽Issa grow her shop since opening it with a micro-finance loan of聽$1,400 two years ago. Today she has repaid that loan and gotten聽another, doubled her merchandise, and gained a new sense of聽independence as the family breadwinner. Her husband has two other聽wives and can't provide for her and her three sons, who are eager to聽marry but don't have the financial means to do so.

"I could either sit and say, 'He has to pay, he has to pay,' and聽starve and let my children starve, or act. I had to act," says Issa,聽surrounded by stacks of Pringles, diapers, and a TV playing Egyptian聽soap operas. "I don't care what my in-laws say, all I care about is聽saving money so my sons can get married. When a person has an聽objective, nothing can break that person."

The West Bank economy is even more gloomy than the weather here;聽government workers recently went two months without getting salaries聽until Saudi Arabia kicked in $100 million to help ease what has been聽described as the worst financial crisis since the Palestinian聽Authority was founded in the 1990s.聽But despite the structural problems and widespread despair, female聽entrepreneurs such as Issa are finding creative ways to carve out a聽niche for themselves in the marketplace, boosting the economy as well聽as their confidence and independence.

"You cannot sit around and wait for the government to give you聽business," says Issa, who also has a side business raising 1,500聽chickens. "No one is going to give you anything when you just sit聽around."

Growing numbers

Samir Barghouthi of the Arab Center for Agricultural Development in聽Ramallah says statistics of female participation in business are hard聽to come by, but estimates that women entrepreneurs are increasing in number and today聽represent 5 to 10 percent of business owners in the formal sector and 30聽percent in the informal sector

There is significant cultural resistance to women entrepreneurs,聽however 鈥� and not only from men.聽Sawsan Dweik, an interior designer and wife of a wealthy Palestinian聽business executive, says women are often the most critical.

"'Look at her, she's out of the house all day, not taking care of her聽husband and her kids,' they will say," Ms. Dweik says bitterly.聽But there is stiff resistance from men, as well, she adds. "The men聽feel that she is coming not only to challenge but to take what is聽theirs 鈥� to work, to earn money. She is trespassing."

Mr. Barghouthi sees it somewhat differently. "Of course, maybe they're聽not comfortable to see their women going outside the home for聽business," he says, "but they have no alternative."

A gym of their own

Such social strife finds no place at My First Gym, however. Girls who聽burst in after school have a full set of mini-gym equipment at their聽disposal, designed specially for kids. There's also a room of聽kid-sized stationary bikes from London for spin classes, a play area聽with huge squishy exercise balls and hula hoops, and a huge bowl of聽green apples in the fridge.

"I think that it is a good place for children ... to [develop] good聽habits, a new lifestyle," says owner Amani Harhash, one of nine聽sisters from East Jerusalem who are all professional women, including聽a lawyer, dentist, and interior designer. My First Gym is one of a聽number of opportunities in Ramallah, says Ms. Harhash, for children to聽"vent out all the negativism" of their society.

The gym, which opened in May 2012, employs four people 鈥� all women 鈥撀燼nd has 60 members who pay 200 shekels ($55) a month for access to all聽the equipment and the various classes, including yoga, aerobics, and聽ballet.

This is Harhash's third business; she started with a shop that sells聽maternity clothes and then opened a day care center, which employs聽five people, with the help of a bank loan.

"Not all women can stay at home with their kids, so we have to give聽them a place where they can depend on other people that their children聽are in a safe place while they are working," says Harhash, who studied聽business administration in Jordan. "It's a must."

Ballet business

Shyrine Ziadeh is a young woman who had dreamed of going to study abroad 鈥� her聽passion was ballet 鈥� but her parents encouraged her to finish her聽degree at Birzeit University near Ramallah first.

But she found there was a demand for her skills here at home, so she聽opened a ballet studio in downtown Ramallah in December 2011.聽"I think business is common sense," says Ms. Ziadeh, who especially聽loves the advertising and marketing side.

She has anywhere from 10-20 girls in her three classes, ranging from聽toddlers to young adults. The tuition is 200 shekels ($55) a month,聽but not all families can pay.

At first her family financed everything, and her brother helped聽arrange the rental of her top-floor studio space from the Orthodox聽Church nearby. Now she is able to cover the rent, although the church聽allows her to pay late when necessary, and she is paying back the聽money her family lent her. She wants to develop the business further,聽however, and is disappointed that no Palestinians have expressed聽interest in helping.聽(For more on the ballet center, read today's blog post here.)

But Ziadeh is undaunted, and puts her whole heart into her work,聽inspired by her late father.

"I'm doing this for him," she says. "He always wanted me to do聽something special."