Gender Equality Egypt Project #1436

Valuable Girl: Empower 100,000 Girls in Egypt

by Coptic Orphans

Valuable Girl: Empower 100,000 Girls in Egypt

Project Report | May 13, 2014
Valuable Girl Project: Finding Peace in Times of Turbulence

By Selvana Awad | Donor Relations Associate

It's no secret that these are not the easiest of times in Egypt. In places, economic pressures are causing the fabric of society to fray. In these times, the work of the Valuable Girl Project is most important, for it is precisely the values of tolerance that ease social discord that are most needed. The project puts that tolerance front and center by involving both Muslim and Christian girls in Big Sister-Little Sister pairings.

At the same time, the stresses of day to day life can take their toll on both the project coordinators and the girls themselves. For that reason, the project team recently held a session for coordinators on how to relax, achieve a peaceful state, and ease the pressure they're under. The older sisters who took part enjoyed the session so much that they asked that a similar one be held for the younger sisters, but with a focus on nurturing charity.

At the same time, to avoid being blind to the actual security issues and other challenges facing Egyptians today, the team trained coordinators in how to deal with insecurity, how to manage problems as they arise, how to plan meetings more effectively, and how to improve their monitoring and evaluation.

With this focus on balancing inner peace and outward wariness, the actual work of facilitating Big Sister-Little Sister relationships continues. Thank you for keeping the faith, and for supporting the important work of tolerance-building and empowering young women.

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Feb 10, 2014
Educate a Girl, Educate a Village

By Carolyn Ramzy | Program Manager

Little Sisters go over their Arabic lesson

Educate a man and you educate an individual. Educate a woman, and you educate her family, her village, and one day, her nation. It has been a said a myriad of ways, from scholars, advocates, and even passed down as proverbs of wisdom. But the truth remains the same: a girl’s education is not only vital to her own well-being, but it is also key to the prosperitystability to those around her and beyond.

In Egypt, 38% of Egypt’s population---some 17 million adults---are illiterate; the majority of those being in the countryside (UN Data 2013). Unfortunately, the rates of illiteracy are largely unbalanced, with far more men and boys able to read than women and girls. The reason for this disparity is rooted in the inherent social roles attached to both women and men. Men are assigned the task of working and bringing income for the family while women are supposed to take care of the household and raise children. By default, the priority to educate girls and young women takes a back-seat to boys’ education.In the 2000 Egyptian Demographic and Health Survey, 38% of Egyptian mothers believe that parents should send the son to university if they can only afford to send one child, compared to 7% who believe that a daughter should be sent (2000EDHS). Consequently, a family may choose to pull the girls in the family out of school after a certain age (e.g. elementary) while leaving the boys to continue their education up to college in many cases.

At the Valuable Girl Project, we work to promote academic retention and greater awareness of the importance of girl’s education. Despite Egypt’s rocky political landscape since the Arab Uprising, we continue to run 8 sites all throughout Egypt where 163 Big Sisters are encouraged to mentor 163 Little Sisters to continue on to higher education. Big Sisters face the insecurities of their neighborhoods to plan and run educational workshops, seminars, and activities. Together, they throw parties to celebrate their Little Sisters and the seemingly mundane but heroic task: staying to move on from one grade to the next.

At Coptic Orphans, we stand behind all of our Sisters. We look to expand our program to 15 sites and to touch the lives of 420 more girls. That is the total of 746 transformed families, villages, and even the Egypt they call home. Help them to continue. Support the Valuable Girl Project today.

Links:

Coptic Orphans - The Valuable Girl Project

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Nov 19, 2013
Working Together Towards A Peaceful Co-existence

By Carolyn M. Ramzy | Program Manager

Sisters.

This past September, our Executive Director, Nermien Riad, went to Egypt to personally deliver a $175,000 check of donations to the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch, Pope Tawadrus II. This money was part of an emergency fund for all the Orthodox Christian Churches burnt on August 14^th following the deposition of the Muslim Brotherhood president, Mohammed Morsi. When she asked him what more an organization like Coptic Orphans could do to support their country, the Pope told her simply: “Work towards peaceful co-existence and religious tolerance in our Egyptian villages.” With this news, Nermien Riad returned to the US to remake our Valuable Girl Program.

Today, we are redesigning our program to actively pursue what were the unintentional effects of educational mentorship: interfaith interaction that broke down stereotypes, collective cooperation that created friendships, as well as work that brought together communities divided by sectarian tension and violence. This time around, we aim to intentionally pair up Little and Big Sisters across religious lines, run awareness-raising seminar for Sisters and their families, and have training activities in conflict resolution and mediation techniques.

We invite you, our dearest supporters, to continue this journey with us. More importantly, we recognize that we would not have made it this far without you. Your thoughts, suggestions, and support are what propel us forward. What do you think? Can we make a difference in Egypt through grassroots interventions to promote a peaceful co-existence and community cooperation? We sure think so.

And just so you know: despite the country’s recent upheavals, the Valuable Girl Project continues to run 9 sites all over Egypt and works with over 500 Big Sisters, Little Sisters, as well as Local Coordinators.

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