CAIRO - In the poor Old Cairo district of Ain el-Sira, the local people have got involved in a youth volunteering initiative, to help improve their lives. Twenty-year-old Saher told the Egyptian Mail that the initiative, launched by ‘Abwab' (Doors), is great for someone like herself who has done vocational training, but can't get a job. "I feel that I have opened up after attending a number of women's awareness sessions, which have allowed me to meet with a number of women of different ages; we can all have our say and share our experiences. "I've been unable to find a suitable job because I'm lacking in confidence when dealing with other people in the work place," Saher added. "These women-only sessions have helped a lot as women." Another woman called Rasmaia, a 53-year-old mother of three daughters, has also learnt a lot from other women in these sessions about bringing up her daughters and dealing with problems of marrying them off. Ranna el-Derdery, a 23-year-old media specialist, is responsible for the women's sessions. She says that the goal of the programme is to correct misconceptions about the Egyptian tradition of the mahr (dowry paid to the bride's family) and other traditions related to marriage. “We've been looking at the history of marriage �" how families have dealt with marrying off their daughters since Islamic times. "Before Islam, women were treated like objects that were sold for a large amount of money," Ranna explains, adding that she has tried to correct this misconception which has crept back into our society again. She says that mothers are usually ultra-conservative in poor, closed districts. Rasmaia points out that her husband won't let their daughters use any cosmetics, not even skin care products. "I've been advising mothers to give their children some freedom, with a fair amount of supervision," Ranna continues. As well as women's awareness sessions, there are also sessions for children, young people and adults, covering politics, human development and environmental awareness. This district was chosen by the 17-member teamwork volunteering group, in co-ordination with Etjah, a charitable organisation, and the British Council Global Change Makers Egypt, due to the lack of civil societies working there. Most of the other NGOs working there offer free computer and English-language courses, nothing about awareness or human development, according to the Abwab initiative team leader, Alaa el-Banan. She says that the goal of the initiative is to break down the barriers between parents and their children, giving parents the confidence to let their children participate in voluntary work, in order to change society. Amr Mohamed, who has done a lot of work with street children, is also involved in this initiative, teaching the children history, science and geography in a creative and attractive way. "Why don't we have teachers like you at school?" a little girl asks Amr after one of his fun lessons. “Most of these children go to governmental schools and I think the Montessori international method is the best way to teach them science,” he told this newspaper. "We help the children interact and express themselves through games, discussing short films that carrying certain messages and principles," he added. Meanwhile, politics is very important for all Egyptians these days, so the programme has been explaining Egypt's political system to the children, as well as the role of the President and how to choose one, and the role of the People's Assembly. "Our aim is to be credible to the people in this district, and to encourage them to become volunteers too, so that they can improve their district," Alaa stresses.
