Samah, an Egyptian businesswoman, shows off her products on the “set” — her home showroom.
Some days, in Egypt, you just wish the TV crews were there to record what you’re looking at. Great material for reality shows is everywhere. Who needs the Kardashians when you have real live Egyptians doing the most amazing stuff, often while talking on their cell phone and driving 77 mph?
The most amazing Egyptian I’ve met lately is Samah. She’s perfect for a reality show in the style of The Apprentice, that goopy drama where Donald Trump eliminates his protégés by shouting “You’re fired!” Samah is an up-and-coming businesswoman herself — although she’s a widow raising a young girl, she’s paying her bills by retailing blankets, bathmats, and other household goods.
But really, Samah could have a show of her own — Real Businesswomen of Egypt ? — because she needs no Trump to hire or fire her. She’s doing it her way, with the help of a loan from Coptic Orphans’ B’edaya microfinance initiative.
In fact, the closest person to a Donald Trump in Samah’s life is the Coptic Orphans “rep” who works with her. Reps, you’ll remember, are the Church-based volunteers who guide and mentor the orphans in our Not Alone program, and who support their mothers in acquiring life skills. This particular rep, whose name is Isis, has been a source of inspiration and coaching for Samah.
From the moment you meet Isis, you know she’s no Trump-style caricature of what a mentor should be. She’s not looking to create a money-making empire; instead, Isis is all about building strong, faithful, self-sufficient families by serving the Church and “her” orphans. She exudes patience and kindness, qualities she has used to walk Samah through the process of starting her business. She’s also got two other essential ingredients: determination and business savvy.
“Hilwe! I’ll take 10!” (That’s me on the left.)
With Isis’s help, and lots of hard work, here’s the enterprise that Samah has gotten up and running. After looking around her neighborhood to see what her customers really need, Samah buys a load of household goods from a wholesaler. These, she sells out of her own home, which doubles as a showroom. The income she generates is of enormous benefit to raising her daughter, and allows her to keep them — and her home — in a healthy state. She’s even sewed new curtains for her windows.
Samah, who credits part of her success to good people skills and strong business ethics, is a “graduate” of B’edaya now. She’s paid off her loan, yet she continues to receive income from the business she’s built. It’s steady money — something she can rely on. Not only that, she reports that her income from the business has increased sevenfold since 2010. For B’edaya, that’s right on target, because the goal is to foster family independence and self-reliance.
Things have not always been so rosy, especially in 2004, when Samah’s husband died after five years of battling liver cancer. The illness was emotionally and financially draining; the family spent every pound they had and borrowed more to pay off medical bills. It has taken a long time to get past the initial stages of mourning and recovery.
But handling these challenges, and encouraging a move to family self-sufficiency, is what B’edaya is all about. It’s a microfinance initiative that tailors small no-interest loans to the needs of widows in our Not Alone program, giving them an income, more skills to feed their children, and more control of their lives. In the second round of loans, from the beginning of 2013 through January 2015, B’edaya disbursed US$14,067, with 29 of an initial group of 37 mothers seeing the process through to fruition. The loan recipients are in Sohag, Minya, Alexandria, Monofiyya, and some less well-off areas of Cairo.
When I visited Samah this month, I met her daughter Amira. She’s at the top of her 12th-grade class and doing exceptionally well, with all kinds of honors. She’s well-positioned to be accepted into a competitive university.
“She’s the angel who God has sent me,” Samah tells me.
I have to think: Wouldn’t that be a much better ending for a reality TV show than Donald Trump yelling “You’re fired!”?
More information about B’edaya is available here. You can also check out these “notes from the field” — “Ambition vs. Tradition: How Egypt’s Widows Are Claiming Their Future, 1 Business at a Time” and “She’s Not on the Cover of Forbes. Yet”