Business: Couturier (hessian kitchen articles)
Region: Sfax
Meriem is 33 years old and lives in Sfax, a southern coastal town in Tunisia. She had to drop out of primary school when she was only 12 years old.  When she was 14, she worked for a living as a maid for a family.  Her employer used to make kitchen linens that she sold to neighbours. "When I saw the kitchen linens that my employer was making, she explains, I developed a strong desire to venture into a similar craft and to become financially independent." Today, Meriem is producing original fine cotton and hessian kitchen linens made out of natural fabrics, notably kitchen gloves, bread bags, table sets, aprons, etc.

Her inspiration came from her immediate surroundings working as a maid: the kitchen and the hessian Tunisian "khicha" (a floor cloth) are her muses and also what enables her to make a respectable living. Meriem found out about enda inter-arabe by pure chance when she was at her aunt's house and a loan officer from enda came by to visit her aunt. Meriem has since taken out 4 loans amounting to a total of 2000 TND.

In November 2008, Meriem was selected with 9 other customers to take part in the 1st trade fair for female micro-entrepreneurs in Strasbourg, France. Her ultimate "wish is to encourage more households to use articles made out of natural materials. We are invaded by so many foreign products that we know neither the origin of nor the raw materials used."