Giving Back
Causes We Are Proud to Support
Creating Opportunities for the people of Egypt, one small business at a time
At Fava Pot, we are committed to giving back to our local community in the DC region as well as to our homeland of Egypt.
One of the nonprofits that Fava Pot sponsors is Hands Along the Nile Development Services (HANDS), which has been engaged in grassroots efforts in the village and urban areas of Egypt for 32 years. Over this time, they have been involved with locally-led initiatives in education, healthcare, water, and sanitation, among other things. Since the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, when the calls for “bread, freedom, and dignity” echoed from the streets of Tahrir Square to our TV sets in the US, HANDS has been focusing even more on job-creation efforts. This includes vocational training, entrepreneur mentoring, and microloans to start small businesses.
With a bulging population of over 100 million people who live on the 4% of the land that is arable, Egypt faces numerous challenges with housing, educating, and employing its talented young population. Finding jobs in this context is quite challenging. Only 23% of Egyptian women ever find formal employment during their lifetimes. Meanwhile, two-thirds of youth between the ages of 15 and 29 are jobless: neither in school nor able to find employment.
But Hands Along the Nile is working to change that.
By partnering with Hands Along the Nile, Fava Pot is creating opportunities for hardworking entrepreneurs to create new lives for themselves and their families.
With a loan as small as $120 or an eight-week vocational training class, an enterprising Egyptian can start a fruit-and-vegetable stall, launch a home-based hair salon, or become a plumbers’ apprentice. This income enables them to provide critical income for their households and ensures that their children can remain in school, not dropping out to support the family through menial work, which only perpetuates the cycle of poverty for another generation.
In addition to nourishing your body through the food we serve, every meal you purchase through Fava Pot will have an enduring impact on the life of a hardworking Egyptian.
Want to contribute directly to HANDS today? You can make a tax-deductible contribution here.
PS: Are you interested in learning Arabic, Dina’s native language? As part of HANDS’ mission to build bridges between Egypt and the U.S., they offer customized, one-on-one, virtual Arabic classes for adults and children. Find out more here.