Ijara female butchers raise the stakes on ‘halal’ meat

By Adow Jubat and Boniface Ongeri

A mention of Somali women conjure images of hijaab (cloak)-covered Muslim women who would never mingle with men in mosque or business places.

But Binto Abdullahi, Marian Ismail Gedi, Marian Abdi, Mariam Hilowle and Halima Siyat — all married — are not your ordinary Somali women. The five have ventured into a businesses associated with men.

Mrs Abdullahi says they are enjoying the attention in Ijara because of their work as slaughter women. She says: "The curiosity is drawing more customers to us. Many people can’t imagine a woman slaughtering an animal until they visit and buy meat from us. It is a departure from the ‘norm’."

Very early in the morning they are at the slaughterhouse, armed with knives and cutlasses, to slit the throats of goats, sheep and camels and skin them.

How It started

Mrs Hilowle, 40, the oldest of the five, was the first to join the business in 1999. "My family was recovering from a devastating drought that claimed 300 livestock," she said. "I realised relying on livestock alone is dangerous because when you lose them, life comes to a standstill."

She says she opted for the venture to fend for her family. She adds: "Many could not believe a Somali woman could run a butchery, leave alone slaughtering animals." When she moved from Ijara division to Masalani, she opened the floodgates for other women.

For five years now, Mrs Marian Abdi, 35, has been in the business and she enjoys it.

"We fled from Ijara to Masalani after our livestock died. I am in the business to fend for my five children," says Abdi. "My husband was immobilised because of age."

Initially, people refused to eat meat on learning a woman had slaughtered the animal. They considered it an abomination, she recalls. "I had to contend with the serial loss-making. What I used to get was not enough to pay for the goats I bought on credit," she says.

However, she survived the hard times. She later moved to Masalani (from Ijara division), where curiosity by the cosmopolitan populace was an advantage to her business.

"I recorded brisk business than my male colleagues. My good customer relations helped me a great deal," she said.

Mrs Marian Ismail Gedi, 30, says hers was not a smooth sailing, too.

"When I first ventured into the business my husband was bitter and the marriage was strained. He considered it shame to the family," she recalls. She says she had to survive the embarrassment to " place food on the table."

Mrs Binto, 22, is the youngest and only six months old in the business.

"My husband, who is a religious teacher, hardly gets enough for our family. He encouraged me to join the business to supplement his meagre income," she says.

The husband, who sought anonymity, told The Standard on Saturday: "Initially, I was not for the idea considering my status as a religious teacher. It is against religion and it placed me in awkward situation. It was embarrassing but we had no alternative."

Binto says when she moved from Jalish — a far-flung village — to Ijara, life was not so simple because she had to buy "virtually everything, including firewood, water and food."

Binto says her first day at slaughterhouse was challenging. "It was embarrassing. I could not work as my male colleagues poked fun at me for ‘trespassing’ in their domain. A female colleague, Hilowle, encouraged me. She told me ‘they will make fun out of it but I will get used’," she recalls.

The venture earns them Sh200 per person per slaughter. "Though the amount is little, it is better than nothing," she says.

Mrs Gedi says when her husband realised the business proceeds could supplement their budget, he gave her a go ahead. "He now gets the goats from the market for me to slaughter." They have bought 10 goats and sheep from the proceeds.

A livestock trader, Mr Ali Hussein, says he sells his stock to women because they are more efficient .

"Unlike men who buy on credit and rarely pay promptly, the women are reliable. They pay in good time," he says.

Mr Ali Abdullahi, a resident, says he really doesn’t mind who slaughters the animal for as long as the meat is halal (legal).

But other Muslims still give the meat from animal slaughtered by women a wide berth. Mr Ismail Dubat, for instance, says he will never buy meat from the women, knowingly.

Unreligious

Hilowle says their efforts to have the local council license and renew their business premises have been unfruitful.

"Some of us registered the businesses under our husbands’ names," Hilowle says.

Mr Abdullahi Osman, 70, a resident and religious leader, says he never thought he would encounter a woman butcher. "It is a sign of the end of the world. It is against religion for men and women to mingle," he says.

But Hilowle says: "We know it is unreligious to mingle with men and we have been requesting the council to build us a separate slaughterhouse."

The women say even NGOs have refused to fund them for business expansion. "Even the butchery operators association has denied us membership," she adds.