TAHREER BANİ SAKHER

Ramallah - The Corona pandemic couldn’t stand in the way of the ambition of the young woman Hiyam Sahwil (25) from Ramallah city. She has tried to get out of the crisis by painting the exhausted faces of patients while giving medicines to them.

Corona pandemic began in Wuhan city of Chinese city at the end of 2019 and has spread in many countries around the world. A state of emergency was imposed in Palestine in early March 2020 and Hiyam Sahwil had to stay at home and the lockdown prevented her from obtaining an income source to support her family. This situation prompted her to benefit from her artistic talent.

Hiyam Sahwil says: “I have known how to draw since my childhood. I got to know how to draw specifically from painting lessons at school. As I felt that painting for children at my age was very difficult, it was easier for me. Usually, my friends spent a long time to paint something, but I painted shorter than them. Thus, I began to feel that my talent is different and I tried to process my talent through practice.”

During the crisis of corona pandemic, Hiyam Sahwil, in her twenties, was able to start her  project, which includes selling hand-painted bags according to the person's desire; she launched a project of making bags and started promoting them through social media.

Hiyam Sahwil paints by using oil, wood, and lead pencils, and she has the ability to draw characters in details on wood or glass, she also works on drawing and coordinating artistic paintings for homes upon request.

She takes the idea of not using plastic bags from the west. The bags she has produced are distinguished by the fact that all the details of them. The color, size, and shape of the bags can be chosen according to the customers' desire. The bags can be used for carrying books, clothes, vegetables, and a laptop and they preserve the environment

Pharmacist or painter

Hiyam Sahwil is studying pharmacy in her final year and works as an intern in a pharmacy located in Ramallah.

"I prefer working in the field of drawing than the pharmacy, because it is far from a routine job, as it always deals with new faces from all regions," she says "If I had the choice, I would choose to paint and develop my talent more, but I'm persuaded that there is no loss in obtaining a university degree at all."

Despite the corona lockdown, Hiyam Sahwil held an exhibition at the Autumn Bazaar located in Ramallah for the first time and many people showed a great interest in her exhibition.

Hayam Sahwil concluded her speech by stressing that: "The beauty of this talent is that it has a developing field, as I started painting on tablet and today painting on bags, wood, and glass so I'm proud of my job, I have a big ambition to achieve it."