The Champs Elysees street in the middle of the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan is a large commercial market where hundreds of Syrians gather from early in the morning to late at night to shop and buy Ramadan goods.
To the heart of the desert, the Syrians carry their crafts and experience to the Champs Elysees market, where they are able to display their works in any of the thousands of shops that have opened.
According to the “Syrians Around Us” website, Nasser, a young man, was able to use his carpentry skills to transform old wood parts into tools which refugees can use, with the aim of overcoming the hard circumstances of asylum in the camp on the Jordanian border.
The Syrian Media Organization quoted a seller in the the Zaatari camp as saying that sales increased during Ramadan, especially with vegetables, fruits and various types of food. He added that despite varying incomes in the camp, every refugee will buy all they can afford.
Social activist Hussein Abdullah said that the refugees selling in the camp's market were producing all types of sweets and foods inside the camp and were selling at appropriate prices without exploitation.
The Champs Elysees is the beating heart of the camp and contains many Syrian restaurants, quality Syrian sweets shops, barbers, bridal shops and many other businesses. Every Syrian works with all his energy to provide the daily living needs, like a bee hive, not tiring and not growing bored, as the Zaatari camp has become a small village with an economic role in the heart of the desert.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
