What’s Your Story?
Explore inspiring stories from USAID’s work in the Middle East
Last July, we compiled first-person human interest stories from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, and West Bank and Gaza.
As we were looking at USAID’s work from across the Middle East and North Africa, we found many inspiring stories of the people we work with. Stories of individuals who search for opportunities, celebrate their rich culture, and work to improve their communities and become self-reliant.
From connecting people to clean water, to training youth with marketable skills, to promoting economic development, to expanding access to health and education, the American people have been partnering with countries in the Middle East to move education, health, prosperity and peace forward.
USAID is working with partners to leverage expertise and resources, benefiting people and communities every day. In an effort to capture this work through video portraits and photo series, we compiled these stories from the field.
We wanted to share with you a few of these stories — stories that show the impact of USAID’s work on everyday lives of individuals and highlight these individuals’ hard work and accomplishments. Check out the videos below and meet the faces from the Middle East.
Ducks for Doaa: An Egyptian entrepreneur pays it forward
Doaa is one of just two girls in her 12th grade class at an agriculture school in Esna, Egypt. In 2015, a USAID project gave small grants to 92 high school students to start their promising business ideas. Doaa was one of the winners. Doaa received $200, which she used to buy 140 ducklings to start her business. Teachers were trained to help test the feasibility of and implement their students’ agribusiness ideas.
As Doaa’s business grew, she was able to buy her siblings school uniforms and textbooks, and the family could finally afford to put all of their children through school for the year. Her growing business became a crucial source of household income. Doaa began selling ducks at a discount to those who couldn’t afford to pay full price and gifting them to the most vulnerable. Her impact on the people around her grows every day.
Across rural southern Egypt, poverty is rife and economic opportunities are limited, despite the area’s tremendous agricultural potential. USAID seeks to lessen the poverty experienced in communities like these by increasing the productivity and employability of Egypt’s youth.
Jordan’s Principal Hero: An educator refuses to submit to the crisis in Syria
Maha is the principal of the Khawla Bint Tha’alaba Primary Girls’ School on the outskirts of Amman. The increasing number of refugee students to already overburdened classrooms, have posed new challenges to the school and principal. Teachers, struggling to achieve basic levels of proficiency in their classes, also assume the burden of accommodating children who have suffered unthinkable trauma and need special care. However, Maha is not giving up.
In 2014, Maha’s school was one of 41 to begin a USAID pilot project to help more than 300 teachers learn remedial teaching techniques in reading and math. After a year of teachers providing remedial support, more than three quarters of students improved their reading skills by one or more grade levels. Today, Khawla Bint Tha’alaba is a melting pot of cultures, languages and experiences.
Syria’s civil war has resulted in one of the worst humanitarian crises of our time. USAID helps Jordan host Syrian refugees by providing humanitarian aid, boosting crucial infrastructure, updating medical facilities and supporting Jordan’s efforts to ensure all students receive a quality education.
Hoda’s Forest: Changing the community one tree at a time
The only thing that French teacher Hoda loves more than running is running through a lush green space. But in Lebanon, where Hoda lives, industry and other human activities have led to the disappearance of 20 percent of the country’s trees in the past half century. Hoda’s home of Baalbeck, in the Beqaa Valley, is especially barren.
In 2013, Hoda joined a USAID community reforestation project bringing diverse members of her community together for a common goal — turning the Beqaa Valley green again. Hoda teaches the community how to plant trees and feels a big achievement when the number of women interested in this work increases day by day. Through planting trees, she feels she is allowing people and women to progress forward.
USAID supports conservation projects that are led by the local communities that benefit them. Since 2010, the Lebanon Reforestation Initiative has helped plant more than 587,000 trees.
Girls in the Garage: Upending expectations in northern Morocco
Ever since she was a little girl, Najlae was fascinated by cars and motorbikes. She loved disassembling car parts and putting them back together. She shares the passion with her little sister Rajae, who is just a year younger.
In 2012, USAID helped launch a program that works to reach youth living in deprived neighborhoods in northern Morocco who are at risk of socioeconomic marginalization. The sisters heard about a USAID project providing youth with valuable skills training to help them break into the job market. After hearing that mechanics was one of the offered programs, they jumped at the opportunity.
By improving opportunities for these youth through a combination of education, employment and community involvement, the program aims to help young people become more productive citizens.
The program is reaching about 20,000 young people living in the north of Morocco providing them with new opportunities. USAID’s support with internship and education programs helps young people like Najlae and Rajae get involved in their communities, boost their confidence and find and secure employment that they can thrive in.
The Strawberry King: A Palestinian farmer shares his secrets to success — love, technology and a little help along the way
Osama is one of only 20 strawberry farmers in the West Bank. He owns a farm in Jenin Governorate with his wife Ezdihar and his daughter Hanin. Hanin studies agronomy at the local university, following in her father’s footsteps. The success of the strawberry farm has allowed Osama to send Hanin to university.
At first, Osama was growing strawberries the traditional way, planting them in the ground. In 2013, he began receiving USAID assistance to grow more and better strawberries with less water, fertilizer and pesticides. USAID provided hanging systems and soilless culture; introduced computerized, automated irrigation systems; and connected Osama with a Palestinian agribusiness. Now, even though only half of Osama’s strawberry plants are grown with these modern methods, they make up around 80 percent of what he harvests and sells.
His farm is a model for the next generation of Palestinian farmers and agronomists. Hanin’s classmates visit the farm at least once a term to study the modern methods that Osama uses to grow his most lucrative crop. USAID boosts the local economy by helping Palestinian farmers introduce new crops that could be exported, including strawberries, red potatoes, broccoli, mangoes, fruit trees and grapes.
Explore more stories from the Middle East. Follow @USAIDEgypt @USAIDJordan @USAIDMorocco @USAIDWBG @USAIDMiddleEast and @USAID.
About the Author
Sahar Kalifa is a Senior Communications Advisor at the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs. Most recently, she led several PR campaigns for USAID to advance its work globally, including the agency’s first regional communications initiative. Previously, she served as a writer, producer, and creative strategist developing new content for USAID’s storytelling and multimedia platforms focusing on human interest videos and stories from around the world. Prior to that, she served as the Director of Communications for USAID’s Israeli-Palestinian Program.
