By Ramez Bishara | Sr. Communications Specialist
Dear friend,
As you know, one of the main goals of our ‘Valuable Girl Project’ is empowering the leadership skills of young girls in Egypt. Among this, the girls inspire one another through Community-based initiatives to help look outside themselves in how they can benefit their own communities. For this specific initiative, the sisters teamed up with a uniquely wonderful idea to build an awning which would be utilized as a shaded resting area at the local boat-docking station in Qena.
The docking station had been known for where village fisherman, street sellers and locals would wait 2-3 hours in the scorching sun for their boat rides. Our fiercely determined girls did everything they can reaching out to government and local village officials to get approval for building two awnings - one on each side of the river.
The girls worked together with the help of local village man-power to build and install the roofing on the awning frame. It was challenging work, they were determined to complete it for the love of their village locals. A local village man created a post on FB expressing massive gratitude for the volunteers who built the awning (linked in article) - the post translates as follows:
"I still don’t know who the volunteers are, but I will post a thank you note here, and hopefully it will reach them. Due to my work, I pass by this area every day, and I see many people, old people, women, and children, who cannot stand in the sun or otherwise waiting for the ferry. So thank you very much to the group. Whoever built this awning and also built one like it in the West, really, I mean, may God bless you, and I hope that they spread the idea further and do it in other public places like this. All I know is that they are girls, volunteers, and among them are children, and they have a supervising teacher. I hope whoever knows them will inform them that all the people who pass daily liked the idea very much and were happy with it "
The girls were beyond thrilled with the finished product and even more with the village's reaction to it. They built this beautifully functional rest area for their community which became a powerful symbol of why volunteering, mentorship is utterly priceless. While setting an example of looking outside themselves, they also gained confidence and determination that they can achieve all goals they set for themselves and show what's possible.
Links:
By Marina Shafik | Communications Specialist
By Marina Shafik | Communications Specialist
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