Amal Delawi, a 42-year old sculptor did not think much of the lump on her throat back in 2013. She had bred cats and assumed she had contracted an infection from the animals but a visit to her doctor told her it was far more serious – it was cancer.

Her doctor told her to start treatment quickly but she was determined to find new homes for her cats. Unfortunately, during that time, her doctor was killed when a shell hit his house.

“After a period of isolation,” she remembered, “I decided to start treatment in Tunisia.”  That was when her real problems began.

Amal Delawi, a 42-year old sculptor did not think much of the lump on her throat back in 2013. She had bred cats and assumed she had contracted an infection from the animals but a visit to her doctor told her it was far more serious – it was cancer.

Her doctor told her to start treatment quickly but she was determined to find new homes for her cats. Unfortunately, during that time, her doctor was killed when a shell hit his house.

“After a period of isolation,” she remembered, “I decided to start treatment in Tunisia.”  That was when her real problems began.

Amal is one of almost 50,000 Libyan patients being treated in Tunisia. Like others, she currently suffers from the consequences of the financial crisis in Libya, and the high dollar exchange rate against the Libyan currency; for the first time ever, one U.S. dollar is the equivalent of four dinars.

She did not even tell her family about her diseas and traveled alone by a bus to Tunisia. She was stopped at the border, she says, for no reason other than “corruption,” she said. The border officer tried to blackmail her to get cash in return for allowing her to enter. She refused and didn’t manage to cross the border.

Direct confrontation

Disappointed but still determined, Amal went to Egypt, where she began treatment for her disease. About 72% of the tumor was removed through a 6-hour surgery and she then underwent two chemotherapy sessions to stop the cancer from spreading.

“When I returned to Tripoli, I refused to wear a shawl a hat to hide my baldness.” Amal’s health began to improve gradually, despite the clear symptoms of chemotherapy, including the loss of hair and nails

“I did that deliberately because I wanted to focus on the social acceptance of cancer survivors,” she said. She participated in many awareness forums and human development workshops organized for cancer patients. Gradually, she became a familiar face to most voluntary associations in Libya.

Costly treatment

Amal had to cover the treatment costs alone because the foreign company she used to work for in Tripoli left the country after the airport war in 2014.

“After returning from Egypt, I had only 100 dinars,” she said. She had to undergo breast cancer screening, which is “too costly”. This prompted her to search for a source of income, and here a new idea crossed her mind.

Tamara

Having failed to find a job in her specialization, she thought about creating her own business. Because of her artistic background and passion for chocolate, she decided to mix it with a high-quality natural resource still untapped in Libya – dates.

She called her product Tamara (fruitful tree). She promoted the product through Facebook and it instantly took off. People began to ordering her product at events and weddings, because it was unlike anything else on the market.

In the beginning, the project idea was to cover the treatment costs in Tunisia, but business flourished and Amal now has a factory, a store and several employees in Tripoli. However, she refuses to open other branches for the Tamara brand. “It is not a commercial product; it is rather a personal touch. It is the product of Amal not the shop,” she said.