This was Laila Muhammad Abdullah, 33 years old, who obtained her degree in Law in 2018 and lives with her small family in Sham al-Bahriya, a village in Minya Governorate.
“I worked for a short time as a researcher with the Decent Life Initiative, which is a Presidential Initiative implemented by the Ministry of Social Solidarity with a symbolic salary to help me with the continuously escalating costs of living, and then I worked as a social facilitator with the Free Sons of Egypt Association.
"When I heard about the project on improving the livelihoods and nutrition of rural women and their families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in Minya Governorate, implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Solidarity, I did not hesitate for a second to apply for the position as a facilitator in the project".
Laila and other women in need of work to increase their income and meet the burdens of living in Minya Governorate, are always seeking similar opportunities that can contribute to achieving some stability in their lives, especially if such opportunities are offered by entrusted organizations.
Laila and her colleagues were trained on communication and negotiation skills, on documentation of home visits, and benefited tremendously by having acquired communication skills, self-confidence and persuasion skills while working with project beneficiaries.
Laila Abdullah participated in the selection of beneficiaries, the formation of farmer field schools, and conducted home visits along with the required follow-up and communicated with people taking into consideration their level of education.
"Working with FAO has added great value to my resume, and I am sure that it will open many doors for me in the future because I worked with an entrusted and renowned entity".
"Working with the project informed me more about the meaning of development and the joy of helping others which made me love this field, and within my future plans, I am seeking to always help people in need, even voluntarily, because I experience an unprecedented feeling of satisfaction when I contribute to improving people's lives and help them overcome hardships".
The project trained a number of facilitators on a series of specialized training courses. Despite their lack of experience, women succeeded in developing their skills and acquiring the necessary knowledge to deal with the rural women beneficiaries of the project."The beneficiaries are very happy with the micro projects they received. There are in need of more such projects, and I hope I can help them all".
The project on Improved livelihoods, nutrition and empowerment of rural women and their families in Minya Governorate is implemented by FAO Egypt in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Solidarity (MoSS) and funded by the Global Affairs Canada.
Contact: Rawya Eldabi / Mohamed Moussa, Communications Team, FAO Egypt