Shereen, 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 READING →In 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 READING →Widowed 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 […]
CONTINUE READING →For many modern Egyptian women, limited access to vocational training and job opportunities is an everyday reality. According to the World Bank in 2018, only 23% of Egyptian women will be able to find formal employment in their lifetimes. Therefore, the opportunity to start a small business can be transformational for women looking to gain […]
CONTINUE READING →HANDS is excited to announce the re-launch of our Etsy shop: Gifts From the Nile! The Zabbaleen are a community of garbage collectors, inhabiting some of the poorest corridors of Cairo. Zabbaleen families live entirely on waste, earning a livelihood by collecting and sorting trash. The shop features products made by Zabbaleen women from the […]
CONTINUE READING →In 2008, Hanaa caught the entrepreneurial bug. She began making leather products in her home and selling them at local markets in Cairo. Despite the difficulties of gaining a foothold in a competitive market, Hanaa knew she had found her life-long passion. However, she encountered several challenges; her process of purchasing raw materials, then designing and […]
CONTINUE READING →Eman’s life has been far from easy. As a mother of two from Alexandria, both Eman’s husband and son have been diagnosed with chronic health conditions. With piles of bills, their family found themselves in debt. Since her husband was unable to work because of his illness, Eman desperately needed to find a way to […]
CONTINUE READING →Marwa Mohssen is a HANDS’ Professional Fellows alum, who is passionate about empowering women. With the experience and knowledge she gained through our program, Marwa has launched a new project to improve the lives of working mothers at her workplace, the headquarters of CARE Egypt. One of her main goals in this project is to find […]
CONTINUE READING →After graduating from a technical institute, Mary worked in tourist bazaars as an accountant for various artisans. Each day, she watched the craftspeople create and sell their products. She was intrigued by watching the process of transforming copper, silver, and leather into marketable products–and became one of the bazaar’s best customers. Eventually, Mary was inspired to join […]
CONTINUE READING →Samira–like many women living in Egypt’s underserved communities–never attended schooling above the elementary level or had any paid work experience. Devastated by the passing of her husband, Samira found that feeding her children was no easy task. She used small donations given to her by a local community organization, but they barely covered her family’s […]
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Join HANDS in New York City for the chance to purchase handicrafts created by young women in Egypt! All products are made by artisans from the Association for the Protection of the Environment (APE). This is a job skills training and educational program for women living and working in the garbage collecting community in Cairo. […]
Please join us at our annual fall benefit event! Come and support Hands Along the Nile with a night of Egyptian music, a silent auction of Egyptian handicrafts, and special guest speaker, former U.S. ambassador to Egypt, Daniel C. Kurtzer. Location: The Fabbri Mansion (7 East 95th Street, New York City) Date: Thursday, October 3, […]
Join HANDS in New York City for the chance to browse handmade crafts by young women in Egypt! Fifth Avenue Presbyterian will be hosting a craft sale of products made by artisans from the Association for the Protection of the Environment (APE). This is a job skills and educational program for women […]
