Workers used to work in the British camps, just like they now work in Israel. Even the villagers in the forties were well off. Sakakini, Jerusalem and I , 79. The presence of and character of a supportive father was mentioned frequently by women and affected the tenor of their youth. The tone of her remembrances are distinctly less nostalgic than those of Sa'ida Jarallah or Hala and Dumya Sakakini.
Photographic evidence indicates both.
Fadwa Tuqan, A Mountainous Journey , 99. 5. Melia Sakakini was a sociable woman of strong character, whose career as a teacher and involvement in the Arab Women's Union garnered her much respect and the friendship of women from different backgrounds. The service sponsored a training course for the Arabic service, out of which 8 of the 30 applicants selected were women. There were no secondary schools for girls in the villages, and even the number of primary schools was limited. Her mother had lost 22 children in infancy before Nimra was born.