For several years the Empowerment of Women and Girls covers the headlines. Celebrities give their names and time to advancing the causes of women in underdeveloped countries to help ensure benefit these neglected members of society. Mulala Youseffsai stands as a beacon for the cause of educating girls so they needn't to be subjugated to the whims of overbearing tyrants. Charities give to girls from war-torn countries in sub-Saharan Africa; NGOs contribute to guarantee empowerment of women from these areas of the world.
Yet with so much emphasis on Empowerment of women, one group of girls is sadly ignored. These are the street girls of Egypt. Abandoned by families, despised by their own people, raped, beaten by gangs, picked up by police, and dumped in dysfunctional ‘fix-it’ places called Islahayas, these girls are a charity supported by Middle East Connections Consultancy.
We initially began working with these girls and helping our good friend Hanna Hartmann-Hosni, in 2006. A word on Hanna, she devotes a great deal of her time, energies, and resources to these girls, enlisting her students from the DEO [German School in Dokki, Egypt]. They support fund-raising for the street girls in addition to efforts for Syrian refugees.
Our purpose in offering these lovely hand-made Egyptian goods for sale is to give the profits from the sales to these street girls. These profits assist Hanna in hiring teachers for some of the girls. Not all the girls are allowed schooling. In the Agouza Islahaya [Cairo suburb] on around 15-20 girls out of the population of over 120 girls see any classroom help. The government ignores these girls, Hanna searches for funds to keep her ‘volunteer’ teachers employed. Funds are also sought to buy clean, usable mattresses for the Islahaya, soap, lice-shampoo, towels, and washcloths. Hanna’s greatest support, her husband Souhail Hosni, another Egyptian unsung hero alongside his wife, dedicates his expertise in helping to build a clean usable eating area.
The pictures on this page explain so much. Each girl has a police record, necessary to be put in the
Islahaya. Some girls, as young as 3 or 4, are identified as ‘criminals’. Purchasing these lovely hand-crafted items – some made by the girls themselves – will help us and Hanna Hartmann-Hosni – give these girls a chance for personal Empowerment.
My book, Il Binait Dol: Egypt’s Hidden Shame, offered on our site and also through Amazon’s Create Space Store is a more in-depth account of the lives these girls live, many stories in their own words and voices.
Yet with so much emphasis on Empowerment of women, one group of girls is sadly ignored. These are the street girls of Egypt. Abandoned by families, despised by their own people, raped, beaten by gangs, picked up by police, and dumped in dysfunctional ‘fix-it’ places called Islahayas, these girls are a charity supported by Middle East Connections Consultancy.
We initially began working with these girls and helping our good friend Hanna Hartmann-Hosni, in 2006. A word on Hanna, she devotes a great deal of her time, energies, and resources to these girls, enlisting her students from the DEO [German School in Dokki, Egypt]. They support fund-raising for the street girls in addition to efforts for Syrian refugees.
Our purpose in offering these lovely hand-made Egyptian goods for sale is to give the profits from the sales to these street girls. These profits assist Hanna in hiring teachers for some of the girls. Not all the girls are allowed schooling. In the Agouza Islahaya [Cairo suburb] on around 15-20 girls out of the population of over 120 girls see any classroom help. The government ignores these girls, Hanna searches for funds to keep her ‘volunteer’ teachers employed. Funds are also sought to buy clean, usable mattresses for the Islahaya, soap, lice-shampoo, towels, and washcloths. Hanna’s greatest support, her husband Souhail Hosni, another Egyptian unsung hero alongside his wife, dedicates his expertise in helping to build a clean usable eating area.
The pictures on this page explain so much. Each girl has a police record, necessary to be put in the
Islahaya. Some girls, as young as 3 or 4, are identified as ‘criminals’. Purchasing these lovely hand-crafted items – some made by the girls themselves – will help us and Hanna Hartmann-Hosni – give these girls a chance for personal Empowerment.
My book, Il Binait Dol: Egypt’s Hidden Shame, offered on our site and also through Amazon’s Create Space Store is a more in-depth account of the lives these girls live, many stories in their own words and voices.
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