Ahmed Hussein: A father living the dream of making a better future for his children

Ahmed Hussein is a 50-year-old man, who aspires for a better future to his family. He lives in Ewa’at El Ghaba; one of the slum areas in Old Cairo. He is married, and has got two children: Maryam and Abdullah in preparatory school. Being poor and impoverished doesn’t mean he is not educated. Ahmed is a graduate of the Faculty of Commerce, Cairo University.

Ahmed and his wife visited our office two years ago; searching for a job to sustain a life with dignity. Through Alashanek ya Balady’s Employment Office, his wife got a job as a nurse in one of the public hospitals in Old Cairo. As for Ahmed, he took his first loan from Alashanek ya Balady. The 500 EGP he got made him able to buy USBs, used computer motherboards, CDs and other computer spare parts to sell to youth in his neighborhood. With this capital, Ahmed was able to generate around 800 EGP per month. Ahmed became very motivated to grow his business, and accordingly, Alashanek ya Balady’s Training and Career Guidance Program gave him training on how to construct a feasibility study to expand his core business, project management, and basic accounting principles. Then, Ahmed took from Alashanek ya Balady a 2,000 EGP loan to rent a small shop in his neighborhood to sell used computers and computer spare parts, in addition to offering computer maintenance services. With this capital, Ahmed was able to generate 1,500 EGP per month, and thus his whole family graduated from the circle of poverty.

Ahmed started to think more entrepreneurial, and by the end of 2010, he took a 5,000 EGP loan from Alashanek ya Balady to further expand his business. Through this loan, he got professional computer maintenance tools, and started to sell computers to youth in different neighborhoods in Old Cairo. Now, Ahmed gains 2,200 EGP per month, and he employs a young man working on the administration of the shop. He says,

“I pay the fees for my children’s education. They deserve a better future, and they deserve to wear better clothes than I do.”