Finding Freedom: Expansion and Excellence in Egypt
It happens virtually every time one of our board members makes a public presentation. We are asked “the question.”
Why, someone in the audience wishes to know, are you working in Egypt when your organization started in Guatemala? What do the two hemispheres have in common?
The answer is simple and complex all in the same statement.
In rural areas of developing countries, often women are capable (and have the desire) of supplementing the family income, yet they have no marketable skills. Through a collaboration with the Council of Social Development (CSD) and Finding Freedom through Friendship (FFF), the Karma Women’s Development Center (KWDC) was launched on September 17th 2018, in El Minya, Egypt. The primary purpose of the center is to train women in tangible skills to be “traded” to supplement their household incomes. Minya is located approximately 245 km (152 mi) south of Cairo on the western bank of the Nile River, which flows north through the city. The geography and population density is a stark contrast to the sparsely populated villages of Guatemala where Finding Freedom first originated.
The name Karma means the vine of the grapes. As with the vine which supplies the food to the grape, similarly, KWDC will be the vein to diffuse knowledge (skills) to the participant to produce fruit.
Karma Women’s Development Center’s (KWDC) mission is to empower women and youth (in particular Egyptian women & girls) by developing and training participants on a variety of tangible skills, personal development and spiritual growth with the goal to improve their social economic environment. The Karma Women’s Development Center is a significant milestone achievement for Finding Freedom in Egypt.
The center’s culture is one of enthusiasm, integrity, and dedication. KWDC is committed to fostering a respectful and ethical environment that enables our Egyptian participants, businesses and institutions to learn and grow in this North African region of our world.
And therein lies the answer. Widows we work with have routinely demonstrated their willingness to overcome the generational poverty that subjugates them. The worries of a mother who can’t feed or educate her children are universal. We are working in Egypt because the infrastructure and support (and thanks to generous grant from the Presbyterian Women in Louisville, KY) is available to us. Doors opened for FFF in Egypt: we walked through them. Women and their children are being educated, fed, housed and are stronger financially because we did. And that is the best of all possible answers to the question of “why.”