MADINA: As per every year in the Haj season, the ladies of Madina make the most of pilgrims' demand for bargains and souvenirs by setting up their stalls in the vicinity of the Prophet's Mosque, the Qiblatayn Mosque, Uhud Mountain and Shuhada' Udud Cemetery. Umm Muhammad leaves her house each day at dawn to return only after Maghreb prayer, making between times up to SR700. “The stall makes a decent profit, and helps in covering the cost of some of my household needs and in paying the annual rent,” Umm Muhammad says. “I generally get things to sell through my brother and my son.” Sitting next to Umm Muhammad is Umm Saleh, who sells gifts and toys most of which have some design or reference to Madina on them. “This sort of stuff is popular with the pilgrims, and each one usually costs no more than five riyals,” she says. “I'm a widow, but I still need to provide for my young children, and I won't have them working while they should still be at school. An education will open up a lot more doors for them and enable them to earn a proper living.” Umm Ruwaishid sells predominantly women's textiles which sell well with a variety of nationalities. “The brightly colored ones and material produced in the Gulf are the most popular,” she says. Refusing to divulge exactly how much she makes, Umm Ruwaishid says the key to success is hard work. “Hard work has taught me a lot in my life,” she says. “I'll keep setting up my stall as long as I am physically able to do so.”
