Despite recent reports highlighting the increasing discrimination against women in Egypt, the Women’s Initiative Fellows are courageously...
Despite recent reports highlighting the increasing discrimination against women in Egypt, the Women’s Initiative Fellows are courageously facing these challenges. Building upon the leadership training and skills they received during the U.S. portion of the Bush Institute’s Women’s Initiative Fellowship, the Fellows are actively working to improve their communities and country.
Mariz Doss, Events Specialist, Cairo Runners
“I couldn’t run in my own city because it was not safe for me.”
An avid runner and sports enthusiast, Mariz is improving her community through sports. Mariz joined Cairo Runners in the spring of 2013 with the shared vision of creating a safe street- running environment for men, women and children – a new concept for Egypt. What started out with 60 runners has turned into 3,000+ runners who meet every Friday to run through the streets of Cairo. In addition to creating a safe running environment, each Friday run raises awareness for different causes including cancer, diabetes and violence against women among others. Cairo Runners is actively planning the city’s second half marathon in February with a hope to host Egypt’s first credited marathon in 2015.
And that’s just her volunteer work.
Mariz currently serves as sales support representative at American President Lines (APL) Egypt, LLC. In addition to working at APL, Mariz is a member of the Wadi Sports Camp (WSC) team, where she contributes as a sports coordinator and counselor.
Learn more about Cairo Runners here:
vimeo://v/66954750
Rowida Eldeep
“My biggest goal is to support women entering Parliament – and not just supporting them, but to increase their numbers.”
After returning to Egypt in April, Rowida decided to leave her job at the Egyptian Democratic Academy and join the Cairo Institute for Human Rights. Though her job changed, her focus has not. Rowida’s passion is still to increase the number of women candidates in parliament.
Rowida believes research is one of the first steps in this process. She is currently gathering and assessing data concerning voters’ views towards women candidates, experiences of current women parliamentarians, and standing legislation regarding a woman’s role to run and participate in parliament. This research is key to crafting smarter messaging, better informing women politicians’ campaigns, and developing and passing necessary legislation to support women candidates.
In addition to her research, Rowida created and launched a successful workshop in partnership with the British Council. The workshop teaches women the importance of becoming active citizens in their communities and has currently spread to 11 provinces throughout Egypt.
Finally, Rowida is working to organize a league of women voters. She notes that, “If women’s votes can count for women, this will be a very important change in Egypt.” She strongly believes that women are the best defenders of women’s rights and hopes to help shift the negative mindset culture places on women politicians. Through research, workshops and perception shifts, Rowida believes that her dream to see more women in parliament can become a reality.
Shaima Tantawy
“I created a new program called the Women’s Initiative Fellowship Program designed for women in the slum area of Cairo to give them a voice and opportunity”
After returning to Egypt in April from the US portion of the Fellowship, Shaima decided to create her own “Women’s Initiative Fellowship Program”. She saw firsthand the value of women mentoring women in the same field and wanted to offer the same experience to women in her home network. Though the program’s launch was delayed due to unrest in Egypt, she is excited to begin training with her first class of 35 fellows on December 14, 2013.
Shaima, along with her team, has also been working to improve living conditions in a destitute Egyptian village. Though the city faces a myriad of problems, lack of clean water is one of the most pressing and they have been diligently working to provide the proper connections for pure water. In addition, her team recently developed and launched a workshop, “ART and Creativity Center,” for the children in the village. Famous artists in Egypt partnered with Shaima’s team to lead this workshop, exposing the village children to the beauty and value of art. They plan to continue the art workshops and hope to expand these classes into a more permanent education center, which the entire community can enjoy. As Shaima notes, “What we are trying to do now [is] to establish this center by their own efforts with our support, so that they will feel commitment toward the place.”
