Rebuilding Beauty, Restoring Stability

As women and business owners shaped by war and displacement, two friends in Karamles are rebuilding their futures together and helping their community recover in the process.

Mariam, a mother of three, first discovered her talent for hairstyling as a teenager. After her family fled violence in Baghdad, they resettled in Qaraqosh, where she built experience and a loyal client base. Marriage eventually brought her to Karamles, where she opened a small home-based studio that became an important source of income for her family.

Everything was lost in 2014 when ISIS invaded the Nineveh Plains. Her salon was destroyed, and her family was displaced. Yet even in instability, Mariam continued working wherever she could — inside homes, shelters, and borrowed spaces — determined to provide for her children. After the area was liberated, she completed advanced professional training and returned to Karamles with renewed determination to rebuild her business properly.

Rita, also from Karamles, walked a similar road. When her family fled in 2014, they sought refuge in Erbil. There, she worked in a salon in Ainkawa, refining her skills in makeup and hair styling. After returning home, she began serving brides and special events independently, but without a storefront, steady income remained out of reach.

The Power of Entrepreneurship

With the help of a Shai Fund business grant, the two women partnered to open a shared women’s salon in Karamles in December 2025. They offer professional makeup, advanced coloring techniques, and updated styles not previously available in the area. 

Mariam brings years of experience and deep community trust. Rita brings fresh techniques and specialization. Together, they have created a welcoming space for the women of their town.

More Than A Salon

A hair salon may seem small compared to the scale of war and displacement. But in communities recovering from conflict, businesses like this play an outsized role in economic and social recovery. 

• The salon provides steady, year-round income that helps families cover basic needs and reduces dependence on aid.
• By keeping customers from traveling to larger cities like Erbil, it keeps money circulating locally and strengthens surrounding businesses.
• Visible, functioning shops also signal stability, encouraging displaced families to return and believe they can rebuild a future at home.
• At the same time, women-owned salons create dignified economic opportunities, restore everyday rhythms like weddings and celebrations, and rebuild the social fabric that war once fractured.

Shai Fund's livelihood projects are designed to help families remain rooted in their ancestral homeland with dignity and independence. When women-owned businesses succeed, households strengthen and communities continue to rebuild.

What was destroyed in 2014 is slowly being restored — through perseverance, partnership, and the courage to start again.