Selling donated clothes to make a living

AFRICAN women living illegally in Makkah make a living by collecting used clothes from homes and selling them to underprivileged members of society at very low costs, Makkah daily reported. Though many people are skeptical about buying pre-used clothing with officials warning against possible health implications of the practice, these women claim that they in fact are doing a “social service”. “We collect all these clothes, wash them and categorize them according to gender and age. We then either sell the clothes to street vendors or directly to the customer. Our customers are usually illegal expatriates or underprivileged construction workers,” said Safiyah, a 67-year-old African woman sitting in Al-Jarwal neighborhood by bundles of clothes. Safiyah said she had been selling used clothes in Makkah for years. “There are women who do this in many neighborhoods of Makkah. We knock on people’s doors asking them to donate old clothes they no longer need. People always have something to give,” said Safiyah. She added she and her friends even go to laundries and buy clothes their owners have not picked up after giving them for washing. “We go to the laundries and offer the amount for washing and pressing the clothes their clients have left behind. There are many clients who never pick up washed clothes and in such case the shop owner does not get paid,” said Safiyah. She said the shop owners normally accept their offer as they are eager to get paid for the work they did. Safiyah said people usually purchase men’s wear, underwear and ihrams (the seamless while cloth worn by Muslim men during Haj and Umrah). “A piece of clothing would sell for as low as SR1. Selling pre-used ihrams helps many underprivileged people obtain the garment to perform Umrah. We are actually helping hundreds of people perform their religious duty,” said Safiyah. She said although it is illegal, selling used clothes is the main source of income for many women like her. “We try to make ends meet and we cause no harm to anyone. We in fact help by collecting unused clothes from homes and giving them to the needy people at nominal prices. These are people who can’t afford to buy new clothes from the retail stores. By doing this, we make the donor, the buyer and ourselves happy,” said Safiyah.