The tough times we live in nowadays may push us into thinking and feeling that our ceilings are descending, our patience is being challenged and the constraints on our lives are increasing. In such times, Inertia – a leading Egyptian real estate developer – is reminding us of how indomitable the human spirit can be. And, arguably, one of the best ways to do so is storytelling. In their ‘New Realities we Build’ campaign, Inertia is attempting just that through shedding intense light on three Egyptian champions who persisted their way through to unexpected triumphs.
Regardless of deeply rooted social norms and lingering misconceptions, these Egyptian progressives treaded on a defiant path towards their professional goals. Without further ado, here are their stories…
Nagwa Ghorab went back to swimming in her 60s.
Retirement is Also the Beginning of a new Chapter: The Teacher-Turned-Swimming Medalist Defying Ageist Stereotypes
Nagwa Ghorab retired from her teaching job only to begin aswimming career. And she did that in her 60s! Ghorab, who is now 77 years young, was an excellent swimmer back when she was only nine years old. She ventured into a lengthy teaching career for decades. Still, however, she asserts, “the champion in me never died.” She took to the pool in defiance of all ageist stereotypes and with discipline and perseverance managed to win multiple medals.
“The first international competition I joined… I was 67 years old,” she recalls. She didn’t deny that she felt that this was new to the world around her. She could sense the underestimation, the mockery. But that didn’t stop her from climbing up through international ranks and reaching 3rd place! Then, and only then, she felt “the tables were turned.” According to Ghorab, her achievements morphed the underestimation into admiration. Listen to her telling her story in the video below…
Gender Stereotypes Shouldn’t Dictate Which Sports you can Play: The Triumphant Female Polo Player
Farah Awadallah’s battle was against a gender stereotype. “The image of women playing polo is not something that Egyptian society was ready for at the beginning. It’s the second most dangerous sport in the world and they all think that we’re weak, we can’t play this game,” she clarifies.
Farah Awadallah didn’t let gender stereotypes stop her from mastering the sport she loves.
Nevertheless, Awadallah ventured into the male-dominated sportand adamantly created a 10-member team named ‘Nefertiti’ at the age of 23. ‘Nefertiti’ went on to win multiple tournaments.“They then started seeing how strong we are. You’ll do it if you try hard enough,” asserts Awadallah. You can listen to her narrative by watching the video embedded below.
Agriculture Doesn’t Need a Vast Farmland: Turning Cairo’s Rooftops Green While Helping Low-Income Families Reach Self-Sufficiency
With the aim of giving back to the community driving him through, Sherif Hosny set out to plant Cairo’s rooftops. “They’re usually used as storage areas for scrap,” he points out. This inspired Hosny to co-found Schaduf alongside his brother, Tarek Hosny. Schdauf is a startup set out to revolutionize Cairo’s agricultural scene while helping bring self-sufficiency and food security to low-income communities. “In the beginning, people were doubtful, asking if I was crazy,” says Hosny as he recalls how people reacted to his proposition to plant nutritious fresh produce on rooftops.
Schdauf, which was cofounded by Sherif Hosny, has successfully helped numerous low-income families.
In 2012, Schdauf’s generation of social good through simple but innovative agricultural innovation began the realization of the brothers’ dream and earned the startup a spot among 14 finalists in the MIT Arab Business Plan Competition. “We currently have 500 families working with us,” he says proudly. Watch Hosnytell Schdauf’s story below.
Inertia firmly believes that the victories of Ghorab, Awadallah and Hosny are an astute reflection of their values and vision, that’s essentially why they decided to help them shed a glorious light on their stories. The most notable element shared between these stories with Inertia is the continuous endeavor to defy odds, challenge stereotypes, battle prejudice, persevere for a better world and build new realities.
Inertia has been thriving and leading the real estate markettowards more innovation since 2007, with nine distinctive projects across Egypt. The biggest one currently is Sahel’s integrated community, Jefaira. Their other projects are located in Sahl Hasheesh, El Gouna and Cairo Alexandria Desert Road.
You can also check out the impressive and innovative measures taken by Inertia to adapt to the COVID-19 crisis by clicking here.
