Young women perform a play tackling social issues as part of their Tamkeen meeting in Assiut on July 22, 2014.
Dear Friends,
Today, I’m glad to share the thoughts of Magda Abdelmalak, who directs the Coptic Orphans office in Egypt. And I’m excited that we’ll be doing more work with these young women!
— Nermien Riad
Can you imagine an Egypt where young women feel safe enough to openly discuss social problems like sexual harassment?
I admit that this kind of thought experiment stretches many people’s brains rather painfully. But if you had been in Assiut on July 22, you’d have been relieved to find out that imagination isn’t always necessary, at least within the two-year-old Tamkeen project.
As part of the meeting held that day in Upper Egypt to mark the closing of the project’s first phase, a group of young women not only discussed sexual harassment — they performed a short interactive play about countering it.
Their play was woven into 90 minutes of songs, videos, and testimony presented by a much larger group of girls, all of whom had taken part in the project’s workshops and other activities. The combination of music, theater, and story-telling showed how they had become active in their communities and were seeking solutions to social problems.
The meeting played an important role in informing local media about the first phase of the USAID-funded Tamkeen project, which aims to build the capacity of community development associations that support over 3,000 girls and young women in Upper Egypt.
Tamkeen works to achieve its goal through cooperation with these associations, micro-grants, and capacity-building in these partners on the organizational level. The project also helps these partners share best practices and become more visible on the regional map of Egypt’s civil society.
The meeting celebrated Tamkeen’s work with 40 such associations in Assiut, Minya, and Sohag, whose representatives were honored guests. Coptic Orphans, the international development organization that runs Tamkeen, organized the event.
Tamkeen, whose name means “empowerment” in Arabic, involves 15- to 23-year-old women in activities carried out by the associations. These activities range from discussion seminars to youth parliaments. Many of the activities expose participants to the value of volunteerism. One key objective is to nurture new and often unheard voices, especially in remote villages.
Since I direct the Coptic Orphans office in Egypt, I spoke at the event. I explained the role of our staff in capacity-building at the community development associations.
I told our honored guests that Coptic Orphans was honored to work with them through training programs that include project planning and formulation of proposals and ideas. I explained how the trainings also cover how to turn these ideas into the real-life experiences “on the ground” in places where Tamkeen works, to achieve the greatest benefit for the girls and their communities.
In the areas in which Tamkeen is operating, poverty is rampant, and young women are at a particular disadvantage. Given our commitment to overcoming these challenges, Coptic Orphans will continue to work through Tamkeen and our valued local partners, the associations, to ensure that these young women and their communities are equipped with the skills to tackle their challenges through the democratic process.
After the meeting, it was bittersweet to hear some of the girls comment that they wished the project’s first phase wasn’t over.
However, I’m pleased that the achievements of the first two years of work have led USAID to approve a grant to extend the project for another two years. I look forward to working with our partner associations, to whom Tamkeen owes its success in the communities of Upper Egypt.
Many thanks to Ahmed Hegab for contributing his excellent reporting skills to this post. In my next blog post on Tamkeen, I look forward to covering more of the information we talked about in the closing ceremony, including a preview of the project’s second phase. Stay tuned!
PS By the grace of God, we’re celebrating our 25th anniversary with the honored presence of His Holiness Pope Tawadros II! We’re also growing and hiring — please share our job postings with all the skilled, passionate professionals you know!