Upon graduating from college, Christine faced a challenge that is all too common among youth in Egypt: unemployment. Recent years of turbulent transition in the region have resulted in a staggering 67% youth unemployment rate. Further, while the Egyptian economy has the means to produce high-tech goods and services, there lacks a workforce with the requisite technical skills to do so. 
 
In order to increase job opportunities for people in situations to Christine’s, HANDS partnered with the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services and One Global Economy to design the Employment through Technology and Innovation program. We set out to provide training to youth in information technology, computer literacy and digital media skills, along with important soft skills such as public speaking and how to effectively search for jobs. 
 
Christine heard about our training course through social media, and her friends encouraged her to apply to the program. She agreed to apply and was accepted. While participating in the program, Christine also began working as a cashier at a local store, but she had higher aspirations for herself.

After the end of the training program, Christine was able to get a job at the Eve Institution as an accountant, where she currently works and is able to apply the skills she learned in the program on a daily basis. In her spare time, she trains unemployed young adults to acquire the skills she has found so helpful in her career thus far.

The training course enabled Christine to exercise greater control over her own life, as she now earns a salary from which she is able to live independently.

We would like to acknowledge our partnership with the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services and with One Global Economy, both of which dedicated much time and effort to the implementation of this program. HANDS would also like to thank the United States Agency for International Development for its financial support, along with our generous donors for helping HANDS make this life-changing program possible.