http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=63535&d=10&m=5&y=2005
Tuesday, 10, May, 2005 (01, Rabi` al-Thani, 1426)
What Put Lid on Women Chefs' Display?
Ebtihal Mubarak, Arab News
JEDDAH, 10 May 2005 - What was supposed to be a pioneering exhibition of
the talents of new women chefs has essentially vaporized. Although organizers
maintain it's due to a mistake in permit applications, some of the young women
involved believe conservative authorities quashed the event after seeing a
photograph in a local newspaper.
At any rate, the attempt to include and expand women's participation in
food services was suddenly halted at the Food, Hotel and Propac Arabia
Exhibition that was held at Al-Harithy Hall recently.
Female chefs from Jeddah Institute of Culinary Arts (JICA) were supposed
to cook and show their culinary skills at the chef auditorium in front of a
female audience during the four-day exhibition. The first-of-its-kind in the
Kingdom, the institute tries to fill the gap in a highly demanding domain.
"Our job is to supply the local market with well trained Saudi chefs,"
said Reda Gazawi, owner and the general manager of the institute.
However, the show was canceled after two days when a girl's picture was
shown on the front page of a local newspaper. Although Bandar Abo Al-Hamayel,
the institute's public relations manager, attributes the cancellation to delays
in obtaining necessary permits, a number of frustrated girls trace the
cancellation to the media coverage.
Reda Gazawi declined to discuss the issue. Okaz reported that the Khadija
Bint Khowailed Center, the women's section at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce
and Industry, was sponsoring the institute. But when Arab News sought a comment
from Dr. Nadia Baeshen, general manager of the center, she denied sponsoring
the institute, saying that the center offers only economic advice to
businesswomen.
Responding to Arab News inquiries, Dr. Baeshen said that the cancellation
was either due to permit problems or other administrative reasons. With the
limited job market for women in the Kingdom, the 19 female chefs who trained at
Jeddah Institute of Culinary Arts carefully searched for a respectable
profession to earn a living.
A number of the girls hold bachelor degrees; others have multiple
diplomas that range from computer programming to cosmetology.
Regardless of the certificates, none of the students had even a shred of
hope in finding a job. Sawsan Bargawi, an Islamic studies graduate who's been
jobless for three years, discovered her hidden cooking skills at the institute.
"I would like to send a message to Saudi graduate girls to explore new
fields boldly and not to look down at manual jobs or be intimidated by new
ideas," she said.
Bargawi's youngest sister, Samar, who just graduated from high school
last year considered herself fortunate that she found the institute already
established in order to pursue her dreams. "I want to be a famous chef and own
my restaurant with my friends in the future," said Samar.
Chasing personal dreams is not the only reason for enrolling at the
institute. Haya Al-Dosari, who holds computer and cosmetology diplomas, told
Arab News that she joined the institute to "take responsibility for her
financial needs and to help out her family."
The girls' reaction to the mysterious cancellation was an unexpected
shock. The students' expectation of receiving acknowledgments after the event
"could have been a plus on our resumes when applying for a job", as one of the
students commented, is "gone with the wind."
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