We published a cookbook in Egypt in the midst of a global pandemic. Egypt, resilient Egypt, you taught us to continue to strive to do what we can, to stand and not be defeated.

The World Bank estimated that Egypt's poverty rate rose to 30% in 2020 and  said that returning to pre-pandemic levels would be a challenge.

With every book sold, a part of the proceeds goes to UN World Food Programme towards its projects in Egypt supporting vulnerable communities.

OUR STORY

We are storytellers. This is our story.

Did you know that every night 690 million people go to bed hungry*? Once we learned those numbers we chose to commit to the goal of #FeedingAll. We then sought the most active organization working on fighting hunger. Since 2017, we have been working with the UN World Food Programme on developing  cookbooks that share stories and recipes of women living in each country with a portion of the sales going to vulnerable communities. We have also strived to include information designed to alleviate dependency on charity by educating the readers on living a healthy lifestyle and starting and scaling their own culinary ventures.

Our first cookbook launched in 2018, featuring the stories and recipes of 54 women living in Jordan built on our Empowering through™ model that identifies and connects stakeholders - aid agencies, private and public sectors, academia, impact funds, and civil society - to work together to enable and celebrate individuals.

In every project of ours, we have strived to include: 45% recommended professionals, 20% economically disadvantaged beneficiaries, 10% ethnic minorities, 10% expatriates, 10% from different religious backgrounds, and 5% with mental and physical challenges to have a diverse and inclusive representation of the country.

Following the success of our Jordan cookbook, we began replicating the model in other countries. One of those countries was Egypt. Amina AlKorey of UN WFP Egypt, and Dina Saoudi, Empowering through™ co-founder, were introduced by a mutual friend. Dina showed Amina the Jordan cookbook and Amina was so impressed that she placed the book on Egypt’s UN WFP Country Director’s desk and said: "We're doing one for Egypt." Along with her colleague Christine Hanna, Amina brought Mona El Banna of MonAppetit and Shady Ahmed and Mohamed Hani from Zest on board. The COVID-19 pandemic put the book on hold for a while, but the team never gave up.

“Working on this book has been a life changing experience. The people that came together to make this book a reality have evolved over the years from business partners to a family that we all cherish.”

“We have experienced so many things together that could have easily broken any of us, but we gave each other strength. We got through the pandemic with different scars, but we came out stronger and more determined than ever to make this book a reality. And we did. I look at this book and I feel a sense of pride that I haven’t felt in a long time.”

-Amina AlKorey, the Project Manager of this cookbook in Egypt.  

The World Bank estimated that Egypt's poverty rate rose to 30% in 2020 and said that returning to pre-pandemic levels would be a challenge.

According to Praveen Agrawal, Country Director and Representative of the WFP-Egypt, “Today, women constitute about half of Egypt’s population and play an integral role in Egypt’s development. Being a strong advocate of women empowerment, WFP witnesses this in our everyday work among the many communities we serve. Women are driving change across all fields – agriculture, nutrition, education, innovation, tech, you name it! Yet, despite this, women are still more susceptible to impacts of climate change on livelihoods, malnutrition, and poverty. Through enhanced agriculture production, revolving microloans, education, and financial literacy and inclusion, WFP works to address this very issue by tackling the root causes that disadvantage women and girls. This cookbook is special because it embodies this same spirit of empowerment, wonderfully captures women’s inspiring stories, and is yet again proof that women can and will help build a better future for all.”

“We are very grateful to the UN World Food Programme, Jabal Amman Publishers and Dar El Shurouk for their support. Thank you for working with us on championing the cause of empowering ecosystems to enable individuals, both socially and economically, so that they may go on to create impact while they tell their stories.”

You are our story. 
EWC - Egypt team.