Samah Said: Story of rebelliousness against begging in streets

A highly entrepreneurial 26-year-old lady living in Ain El Sira with two children and a husband who doesn’t have a stable income, Samah hoped to lead a sustainable life and not to depend on charities form NGOs or mosques. “I have seven year-old girl and a four year-old boy, and I really don’t want them to grow up seeing their father and mother begging from others.”

In 2009, Samah decided to take a 500 EGP loan from Alashanek ya Balady that she used to partner with some of her family members in establishing a mini-market. Through this project, she used to gain 450 EGP per month. Learning the process of the mini-market business, she decided to get a higher bracket loan to expand her business and gain more money. She decided to take a 2,000 EGP loan from Alashanek ya Balady to buy juice and fizzy drinks refrigerator and put it in the mini-market, and started to gain 700 EGP per month. Still, Samah wanted to earn more, because this not the income that satisfies the basic consumption, health, and education needs of her family.

Alashanek ya Balady started to coach Samah in 2010 to discover her new skills that she gained through her trading experience in the mini-market. Alashanek ya Balady discovered that she became a very clever sales person, and had very good communication skills. Alashanek ya Balady invested in that, and started to give her sales courses through the Training and Career Guidance Program. Afterwards, Samah took a 3,000 EGP loan to continue her mini-market project, and at the same time started a makeup trading business. Samah started to buy makeup from different shops in Cairo, and from My Way (a brand name like Avon and Oriflame) and sell them in different districts in Old Cairo on installments. Now, Samah gains a profit of 1,100 EGP per month.