During these difficult times, sometimes it is encouraging to hear stories of hope. Today we share Warda’s story. Warda, a 38-year-old mother, is from the Egyptian village of El Hawaslya. She wanted to help her husband support the family by using her skills in hairstyling and makeup, perfected through years of playing dress-up with her sisters. […]
CONTINUE READINGLike many women in Upper Egypt, Hanan relied on her husband to feed and clothe their family of five. Before COVID-19, her husband found work as a day laborer two or three days a week, which barely met the family’s needs. Since the pandemic started, most of his job opportunities have completely dried up. The […]
CONTINUE READINGTo help address the issues around female economic rights and participation in the Middle East and North Africa, HANDS is pleased to announce the launch of a two year program, Activating the Private Sector for Women’s Economic Rights in Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco, funded by United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF). The initiative will involve training […]
CONTINUE READINGPreparing for a wedding can be an expensive proposition for parents. In Egypt, not only are the parents expected to throw an engagement and wedding party, but they should also furnish the couple’s new home. This was the situation for 36-year-old Zina, a farmer’s wife and mother of three, as she prepared for her oldest […]
CONTINUE READINGDid you know that by some estimates only 19% of Egyptian women find a job during their lifetime? However, thanks to HANDS’ donors, women in Egypt have some exciting new opportunities. Many Egyptian women looking for employment have been able to open their own businesses with the help of small loans. This provides the capital […]
CONTINUE READINGNabila, a mother of three from the village of Akaka, was was a stay-at-home mother. Her husband’s salary, earned through long hours in a local factory, did not always cover the family’s needs. By the end of each month, Nabila and her husband had to decide between feeding their children and paying their electric bill. […]
CONTINUE READINGDid you know that in Egypt, nearly two thirds of young Egyptians between the age of 15 and 30 are jobless, neither in school nor employed? Mina, a 19-year-old from Abu Korkas village in the Minya governorate, used to be one of them. But Mina’s life has changed since he came to a HANDS-sponsored job-skills […]
CONTINUE READINGShereen, a 35-year-old mother of four from the Minya governorate, is a proud landowner. She recently purchased her property using earnings from her clothing store. A few years ago, Shereen was not the same woman who runs a village fashion enterprise and serves as the sole breadwinner for her family of six. Shereen used to […]
CONTINUE READINGIn the Moquattam area of Cairo, more than 50,000 zabbaleen, an Arabic word for garbage collectors, survive on sorting and recycling trash from the city. Unfortunately, a lot of children in this community have to drop out of school in order to help their parents collect and sort garbage. In this community, many girls have limited […]
CONTINUE READINGWidowed women in Egypt’s villages can face immense challenges in supporting themselves and their families. For some of them, the death of their husband is the first time they have tried to enter the job market. With little education and no formal work experience, the situation can feel hopeless. Mervat, a 48-year-old woman from Upper […]
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