Meet the Bedouin Entrepreneur Breaking Social Norms
The Bedouin fishing town Dahab, located in South Sinai, 100 km north of Sharm El Sheikh, has become a home to spiritualists, divers and nature-lovers. But it is also quickly becoming one of the nation’s most thriving start-up hubs.
In 2010, Samah Allawi, a Dahab- born 31-year-old Bedouin woman, founded her own little project the Birds of Paradise Hadana Nursery, which would soon grow exponentially.
Motivated by the need to give back to her community, Allawi came up with the idea to open a nursery for her neighbourhood’s children to help prepare them for elementary education.
The nursery caters to children from ages three to six, right before they ‘graduate’ and go to primary school. The children’s attendance is inconsistent so far, but she manages to enroll and teach around 12 kids at a time.
“I teach children to read and write in Arabic and English and I help them learn basic mathematics with the help of volunteers who I trust can teach them something new and expose them to different points of views,” Allawi told The Caravan.
She started her initiative back in 2010 and was the first female Bedouin entrepreneur to open her own project.
At first, she rented a small place next to her home in the middle of Asala, where she and most locals lived, and charged EGP 40 per child, in order to make enough for rent.
Volunteers from all over the world come to the Hadana to expose Bedouin children to different points of views and new ways of teaching. Olivia Bishop, a traveller and volunteer from the UK, was one of them.
“I really enjoyed volunteering as an art workshop leader at the Birds of Paradise Hadana. We painted a mural of the sea on the outside wall, and the adorable kids responded so well to creative activities – despite the language barrier,” she said.
A big stage for her project started when a relative brought home a British woman, Aliya Astelle, and two of her friends. Upon hearing about the project, Aliya was immediately on board and set up a Facebook group titled “Bedouin Primary School Project,” calling for volunteers and donations.
Ever since, volunteers from the United Kingdom, among other places, come all the way to Dahab to help teach English, Art, Math and Music. They always bring supplies to donate to the Hadana.
“The kids also made birds out of card and feathers and ran down the road with them after school – a lovely sight to see in stunning Dahab! I’ve been back to donate some books and art stuff and hope to return again soon,” said Bishop.
Since the Birds of Paradise Hadana moved into a bigger one-floor apartment, Allawi now depends heavily on donations and volunteers coming from all around the world for sustainability and more importantly, paying rent.
“I realized that most families in our community couldn’t pay the initial rate of 40 pounds, and because they’re my friends and I know where each family stands financially, I decided to give each family a different rate, depending on what I know they can pay,” she said.
Even though Dahab has been on many Egyptians’ radar lately, becoming a getaway for most big city residents due to its vibe, dress- code and breathtaking scenery, its Bedouin culture is still very much intact and dominant.
Bedouin tribes moved from Sinai’s mountains and settled in towns such as Dahab, over a century ago. Many still maintain their traditional customs about matters like women’s clothing and independence.
Allawi, her four brothers and a sister, her father, a fisherman and her mother, a housewife, however, are far from the typical Bedouin family.
She explained that most families enforce the niqab on women as soon as they reach puberty and would encourage girls to drop out
of school as soon as they marry. She is not shy about expressing gratitude for her family’s fair treatment and their support for her educational endeavors.
“My family and friends were very supportive at the beginning, and even helped out with rent for the first few months.”
Allawi acquired her high school diploma from a technical high school in Al-Tur, a city close to Dahab, and a Business Management Diploma from the Open University as well as an Information Technology certification from the Ministry of Communication.
“I tried applying for teaching positions in several of the local schools in the area. However, my attempts succumbed to discrimination, as they would often prefer foreigners and Cairo- bred Egyptians over us, locals.”
Allawi hopes that one day, she would be able to move into an even bigger place, have more space and a playground to offer the children.
“Maybe in the future I could even have a room full of computers and a WiFi router and I could teach the children how to go online to learn more about the world,” Allawi said.
Her biggest dream is to have a diversified group of children, the Bedouin, Cairene, Arab and foreign children to sit side by side.
