Dependence on Charity Not An Option for Assuit Mother

Iman, a widow from Southern Egypt, proudly displays her wares. Iman defied village mores to start a successful business, and her daughter now has an education.

In Iman’s village near Assuit in Southern Egypt, it is not considered acceptable for a woman, let alone a widow, to start a public business. But for Iman, depending on charity to support her family was not an option.

Since her husband’s death, Iman had struggled to provide the basic necessities for her family.

She rarely had money left for the books and uniforms that her daughter, Mary, needed for school. When Mary enrolled in Coptic Orphans’ Not Alone Program, Iman began participating in the trainings offered to the mothers to provide them with the skills and resources they need to become self-sufficient providers. Soon, she was ready to start her own business.

Iman set up a makeshift stand with crates for selling vegetables in front of her house. One by one, Iman’s neighbors started to accept the situation. Soon, she was earning enough income to support Mary’s education. But it wasn’t long before Iman recognized another opportunity for growth.

Iman selling vegetables house to house with her wheelbarrow.

Her strategy involved a simple blue wheelbarrow that she purchased with the support of Coptic Orphans. Now she doesn’t sit around waiting for customers to come to her. Each day, Iman walks the small streets and alleys of Manfalout, pushing a load of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, turnips, coriander and other vegetables. Her doorstep service gives her a strong advantage in the local vegetable vending market.

Iman is just one of many widowed mothers who refuse helpless dependency on the Church or charity, but struggled in the face of illness, social pressure, and poverty to make a better life for their children. For example, further down the Nile, Coptic Orphans was able to help another widow purchase a sewing machine so that she could make simple dresses and other clothing items. A few months later, this remarkable woman actually turned down financial assistance when her son became ill.

“I already bought the medicine from my sewing money,” she told Coptic Orphans. She continued to purchase her son’s medicine from income that she made from her own work until her son recovered.

Iman is also well on her way to self-sufficiency. She makes close to 100 Egyptian pounds a week from her wheelbarrow rounds: more than her entire monthly government widow pension, and on par with what many men in the village earn. What may not be as readily apparent is the change that has slowly overcome the village since Iman first set up her vegetable stand in public over a year ago. Other mothers in the village are following her example, with more and more of them trying their hand as breadwinners, selling things like appliances and clothes from makeshift shops.

By donating to Coptic Orphans, you enter into a partnership with thousands of courageous widows like Iman, and their children.

The Not Alone program supports children who have lost a father in part by providing opportunities for self-sufficiency individually-tailored by each child's Rep.

Your resources + their resourcefulness = a better future for Egypt.

Help mothers like Iman overcome dependency and become providers for their family. Donate Now or Sponsor a Child.