Day in and day out, we are committed to giving the gift of education and empowerment to our participants, for both girls and boys.
The mission of HEYA MASR is to restore the sense of dignity and pride in young Egyptian women and men by building their self-confidence through empowering them mentally and physically to develop and strengthen their character by providing a nurturing safe environment for nutritional healthy lifestyle, character development activities, sexual harassment awareness, and self-defense strategies. HEYA MASR is empowering a young generation of girls now for a better Egypt tomorrow.
In the picture above, our trainer Amwaj, leads the girls in critical thinking on healthy eating habits and behaviors. The goal of developing their emotional intelligence is to teach them to make educated decisions based on understanding the consequences of their actions. It is one of the first few steps on the path of the development of their character.
In the past few months, our teammates, Abeer and Hager, worked hard on delivering the second level of our program to a class of girls in the community of Azabt Khar Allah. Over 40 hours of training divided over three months were focused on three main pillars: Character Development, Health, and Nutrition, Harassment Awareness in addition to Self-Defense classes. We are very thankful for our team members and proud of our girls and the behavioral changes they made. We saw girls who were fearful, now they are bold and courageous. We saw girls who were unhealthy, now they take charge of their eating habits. We saw girls who were hopeless and insecure, now they are hopeful and lead others in confidence. We are beyond happy. In the next few months, the girls move onto the third and final level of our program. We can’t wait until the big celebration.
Amani Abdul-Aal is a psychologist at the Institute of Higher Studies for Children and Wendo self-defense trainer for girls. Amani’s dream for Egypt is for every girl, beginning in childhood, to have the psychological strength to cope with sexual harassment and bullying. To trust in herself, her abilities, and to see her potential. Amani continues, “Each girl needs to believe and know that she is royal”
Amani is a certified WenDo self-defense trainer and for the past two years has supported Heya Masr. She sees it as the right avenue to bring her dream and message to a reality by training our girls. To date, she has trained over 200 girls. We are thankful for her service and continued support. Each girl receives 10 hours of training.
HEYA MASR Founded in 2014 and ran as an initiative for three years. In 2017 was registered as a social nonprofit organization with a headquarters office in Ain Shams Cairo Egypt. HEYA MASR registered and approved by the Egyptian Ministry of Social Solidarity under the number 10407