Proactive Spirit

Egyptian entrepreneur tackling challenges of gender issues and food wastage

- Muhammad Mansour

When Menna Shah in was young, she dreamt of exploring the world and having new experiences. As soon as she graduated from Ain Sham University in Cairo in 2009, majoring in pharmaceutical industries, she challenged the strict family rules and took a one-month trip to Europe, covering seven countries.

Being away from home, she learnt about being independent, without disappointing her family’s expectations. She also opened up her horizons to new lifestyles and cultures. On returning home, Shahin decided to share her experience with other women in her community and became a role model for proactive female entrepreneurs in Egypt, a country where social norms don’t allow women the opportunity to travel alone.

“The first time I traveled, I had a culture shock; but later on, I got to know how to travel on a tight budget and then traveled abroad once every two or three months, developing new skills along the way,” said Shahin.

Travel initiative

Using her new found travel skills, Shahin proactively set up a campaign on several social media platforms entitled She Travels. The initiative is aimed at encouraging women to challenge society’s restrictions against women, among which travel prohibition is something Shahin feels weakens the capacity of women to be proactive members of society in a patriarchal-oriented culture.

The initiative paved the way for women to enjoy traveling without fear of a possible backlash from society and family. As part of the trips, women who travel together establish networking opportunities and mentoring relationships with qualified life coaches.