Dawwie reaches out to the families in Heisa Island in Aswan
The screening of “It Takes a Village” documentary and mural drawings as part of Dawwie Interventions
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Aswan, Egypt - Located between the Philae Temple and the Nile River Dam, we find Heisa, a small Nubian island in Aswan. At 6pm, women and their children from Heisa are gathered in the Community Centre to watch the award-winning short documentary “It Takes a Village” directed by Reem Osama.
The film documents the journey of three Egyptian girls (Alaa, Samaa & Noura) to fulfill their rights in various areas of their lives. The three heroines of the film are participants of the ‘Dawwie’ national initiative that aims to foster an enabling environment for Egyptian girls, especially the most vulnerable, to achieve their full potential while enhancing the participation of their families and communities as well. The initiative is currently being implemented across the country.
Following the screening, a discussion in Nubian language was carried out by 30-year-old Asmaa Yaacoub, a moderator from Nubia captured opinions about the film as she also tackled topics such as parental support, gender equality, and violence against children.
In essence, the issue of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is still practiced among the Nubian community; however, many Nubians are strongly against child marriage, and believe that girls have to complete their education first before they get married. “In the past there was no education; now girls are well educated in Nubia,'' said Layla, who is the mother of Asmaa Yaacoub and was among the audience who watched the film. Coming from the Nubian community, Layla encouraged her daughter throughout her education journey; moreover, motivated her to join training and activities in parallel to her education.
Asmaa has obtained a BA in French literature and is currently working in one of the leading hotels in Aswan. She did many documentaries, one of them is about the threat of the disappearing Nubian language in collaboration with two other friends.
Driven by her strong cause, she was keen on moderating the discussion in Nubian language after the film screening. “I previously watched “It Takes a Village” film at the Aswan film festival. I like how Dawwie connects between the families and their children,'' said Asmaa, explaining her enthusiasm on why she is keen to be part of Dawwie.
The screening of the film has become part of Dawwie initiative, which is usually followed by a storytelling circle among the children and adolescents. Later, one of the participants is chosen by the community to have their portrait drawn as a mural on the walls of the social space. This time, Rasma, (means drawing in Arabic) an active girl with a cheerful smile, was chosen to be drawn on the wall of the Community Centre. Maha Gamil the mural artist, invites the drawn child to participate in the mural drawing to feel happy and included in the process “I invite the child to paint the icons drawn in the mural, such as kite, and butterflies that express freedom, and the computer which express communication and digital learning opportunities,” explained Maha
Dawwie -the National Girls’ Empowerment Initiative- is a multi-stakeholder’s initiative to advocate for girls’ empowerment through enhanced access to quality services, skills development, and opportunities to participate and be heard. Dawwie was placed under the auspices under the auspices of H.E. First Lady, Entassar EL-Sisi within the framework of the National Egyptian Family Development Project, and is led by the National Council for Women (NCW) and National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM). UNICEF Egypt, in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Technical Education MoETE), Ministry of Social Solidarity (MoSS), Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS) and Ministry of Culture (MoC), Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MoICT), National Council for Persons with Disability (NCPD) and the National Population Council (NPC), in addition to civil society organizations and international organizations. In 2022, Dawwie – an Arabic action verb that means to echo and reverberate- aims that all the girls in Egypt will fully enjoy all their rights by 2030.
