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| by Realm - Creating Work You Want, |
Sep 8, 2002 |
What do you hope to achieve at the Youth Employment Summit?
I hope it’s going to be successful for us. I want to tell everyone that Egypt is so beautiful. Youth have so many problems—unemployment is a big one. When people are unemployed they go to drugs, sex. Why not face it and try to solve these problems? We can be leaders.
What is the youth unemployment rate in Egypt?
About 60 percent. In Egypt there are 64 million people, so there are many.
What is the biggest obstacle facing youth employment in your country?
When I ask for people to work for me, I ask for experience. How can I get experience without working? People want to finish school without courses in computers, English, French, etc, they just want to work. I’m not talking about my friends, or me—we can work. But I’m talking about poor people—they can’t find work because they don’t have money for courses or training.
What are the biggest industries in your country?
Anyone can study hard and become a doctor. Doctors will find work, but they must study hard. Cairo has a lot of potential for income. Some people have to leave Alexandria to work in Cairo.
What is the best/worst thing about your country, in your opinion?
Best: I like the sea—I feel like, when I look at it, I’m a mermaid.
Worst: People aren’t open-minded enough. There’s no freedom. There are some rights for men and not a lot for women. Leave everyone to be what they want to be. I am myself, I’m not my father or my mother.
What is the biggest issue you would like to see addressed at this conference?
People can’t work in their own country—they have to leave their country to support their families. I don’t want to hear this.
What do youth do for fun in your country?
We go to cafes and discotheques at night. We have lunch out. In the summer we go out of the country to Lebanon, Germany, Greece, etc—well, people in our class do anyway. The other classes go to the beaches.Jilan El Kady, 18, logistics student, Arab Academy of Science, Alexandria, Egypt
“At age 18 I worked as a saleswoman at a very high-class country club. I worked 12-hour days and tried to convince people to join. Some were very rude and some were nice. It was hard work. When I was very young, seven, I used to make cloth bracelets and sell them to my friends.”
Sandra Haddad, 19, business administration student, Arab Academy of Science, Alexandria, Egypt
“I worked for a textile firm as a secretary when I was 15 years old. I was a trainee [intern], and was paid very little. I worked for the experience and the certification while I was in school in Germany. I’ve worked as a trainee six times—in a bank, in a maritime company and in the biggest library in Berlin.”
Colin Campbell, 25, youth worker, Georgetown, Guyana
“My first job, when I was 19 and still a student, was at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport. I was lucky. I worked in the human resources department in the first year, then moved to the youth department as a youth officer.”
Kailash Busgopaul, 24, masters student/works for NGO focusing on child and family welfare, Mauritius
“My first job was helping my parents in their supermarket. I was 14 or 15 years old. I was a stockboy—I helped refill the shelves so that when people came shopping what they needed would be there.”
Elhadji Malick, 32, Senegal
“At 22 years old, I worked as a professor at the equivalent of a North American secondary school. I taught mathematics.”
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