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Saudi Arabia Builds A City For All Those Wacky Women Who Want To Work

LE MONDE( France),THE GUARDIAN, DAILY MAIL(UK)

Worldcrunch

They’re not allowed to drive or to vote, writes Le Monde, but the women of Saudi Arabia will soon have their own city.

How to create more job opportunities for woman in gender-segregated society? Build female-only city! gu.com/p/39y2a/tw #SaudiArabia

— Guardian World (@guardianworld) August 13, 2012

Saudi Arabia is planning to build women-only industrial city dedicated to female workers, reports the Guardian. The city, which will be built in the eastern province of Hofuf, will provide a working environment that is in line with Saudi Arabia’s customs and Sharia law.

Although the oil-rich kingdom does not prohibit women from working, says the Daily Mail, they only make up 15 percent of the workforce, with most employed in women-only workplaces.

Until recently, Saudi women could only work as supermarket cashiers or bank tellers, reports Le Monde, but now they can alsoget a job in shops selling lingerie or cosmetics. By the end of the year, women should also be able to replace men in stores selling the traditional abaya cloaks.

The Saudi Industrial Property Authority (Modon) developing the project believes the women-only city could create between 2,000 and 5,000 jobs in textiles, pharmaceuticals and food-processing industries, with women-run firms and production lines. In a statement, Modon said the city would be equipped "for women workers in environment and working conditions consistent with the privacy of women according to Islamic guidelines and regulations.”

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Migrant Lives

They Migrated From Chiapas When Opportunities Dried Up, Orchids Brought Them Home

An orchid rehabilitation project is turning a small Mexican community into a tourist magnet — and attracting far-flung locals back to their hometown.

They Migrated From Chiapas When Opportunities Dried Up, Orchids Brought Them Home

Marcos Aguilar Pérez takes care of orchids rescued from the rainforest in his backyard in Santa Rita Las Flores, Mapastepec, Chiapas, Mexico.

Adriana Alcázar González/GPJ Mexico
Adriana Alcázar González

MAPASTEPEC — Sweat cascades down Candelaria Salas Gómez’s forehead as she separates the bulbs of one of the orchids she and the other members of the Santa Rita Las Flores Community Ecotourism group have rescued from the rainforest. The group houses and protects over 1,000 orchids recovered from El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve, in the southeastern Mexican state of Chiapas, after powerful storms.

“When the storms and heavy rains end, we climb to the vicinity of the mountains and collect the orchids that have fallen from the trees. We bring them to Santa Rita, care for them, and build their strength to reintegrate them into the reserve later,” says Salas Gómez, 32, as she attaches an orchid to a clay base to help it recover.

Like magnets, the orchids of Santa Rita have exerted a pull on those who have migrated from the area due to lack of opportunity. After years away from home, Salas Gómez was one of those who returned, attracted by the community venture to rescue these flowers and exhibit them as a tourist attraction, which provides residents with an adequate income.

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