Women of Interest: Heba El Sewedy
By: Malak Sekaly
@MalakSekaly
Known as “Egypt’s Mother Theresa”, philanthropist Heba El Sewedy has held out her hand to the underprivileged for years.
Current founder and chairwoman of the first non-governmental organization (NGO) for burn survivors in the region; El Sewedy’s passion has touched many hearts.
From Egypt’s leading family in the cables and electronics business, El Sewedy chose to embark on a more humanitarian path.
After receiving her Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature from King Abdul Aziz University in 1994, she first launched her career in entrepreneurship by establishing the Arabian French Textiles Company.
She further immersed herself in the business world by becoming a shareholder in the Helal El Sewedy-Energya group.
During the January 2011 revolution, however, El Sewedy took it upon herself to care for the injured youth. She did so by providing medical care to approximately four thousand individuals, including their families, many at her personal expense.
Named by many “Mama Heba,” for her maternal compassion towards the underprivileged, her generosity was not limited to Egypt – during the Libyan revolution she also supported forty wounded survivors.
Today, El Sewedy is focused on her NGO for burn survivors, the Ahl Masr Foundation.
Established in 2013, Ahl Masr chose to address burn victims because it realized that this group of people were neglected, marginalized and lacked specialized facilities capable of supporting them.
El Sewedy then began working on building the first specialized non-profit hospital and research center for the treatment and care of burns in the Middle East and Africa.
In addition to this, she emphasizes the need for raising public awareness on the acceptance and integration of burn survivors, as well as methods of burn prevention.
Through the foundation’s work, it become clear that there are more than 100,000 annual burn victims in Egypt that need help.
And so, Ahl Masr decided to adopt its long-term vision entitled “Egypt Burn-Free”, ulitmately working towards “Humanity Burn-Free.”
