Christine Sedky's blog

The more I encounter issues about artisans, the more I try to see how others have solved and overcome similar challenges. Of course there are individual issues according to the craft and sometimes local social issues. But many times there is much to be learned from others' mistakes. Which has really made me step back and think about how generally countries are grouped into regions.

Tables are set-up on the streets, work days are condensed, traffic is horrendous, people are fasting all day (so tempers sometimes flare) and there are gatherings and celebrations every night. Welcome to Ramadan, the Islamic Holy month, in Egypt, which this year is from August 22 – September 22 (approximately). It is also really hot this year! Ramadan is a time of giving back to communities and the poor. Despite the heat and lack of work that happens during this month, there are a lot of gatherings of iftar (to break the fast at the end of the day) which I particularly enjoy. People gathering together: Christians, Muslims and others to break the fast together and share in a meal.

It is also the one year anniversary/birthday of Ayadi! I remember arriving in Cairo last year in the middle of Ramadan and trying to meet people and get some work done. It was nearly impossible to coordinate anything, with the abbreviated work schedules! The tentmakers that I am currently working with are on condensed schedules, but I am happy to say we are actually producing this month and we are coordinating well!

When you don’t have to go into an office for your job the lines between work and life become very blurry. Even my vacations now always include informal craftsmen/craftsmanship research. Every trip I have taken this year, whether in Egypt or outside I have found local artisans, heard stories about their lives, their crafts and researched their traditions.

I have come to really enjoy the rituals that I have developed working here. To say the very least, working with poor artisans in Egypt is the polar opposite environment from working in corporate America. Day-to-day interactions include lots of tea, no emails, no credit cards and the satisfaction of being surrounded by people who work with their hands and produce beautiful items. Don’t get me wrong, people in Egypt with more corporate jobs might as well be in NYC, LA, DC or London. Their days are filled with meetings, conference calls, emails, etc…but their offices usually have a view of the Nile. ;)

I used to hate waiting around, being stuck in traffic, etc. But now I have learned to embrace it.  Don’t get me wrong, I still would never prefer to be stuck in traffic for 45 minutes or wait for people for over an hour. And I am usually running late, but I have been trying to adapt the same sense of ease with time. In DC I felt like I was always 5 minutes behind while trying to make sure I was at least at places a minimum of 5 minutes before the meeting. Here if I am within ½ hour of the appointment I am at ease.

If you have been following my blog you will know that I am working with traditional craftsman in Cairo. Besides my work with the craftsmen and workshops I currently work with, I am always looking to cooperate with other artisans, looking for other crafts to work on and look for ways to increase employment and alleviate poverty.  After working in development for five years I guess my “development lens” is always active.  I also like to travel to the various towns and villages in Egypt to be in touch with the day-to-day lives of the poor and think of ways to collabarate with them.

I am getting texts and calls asking me if I am okay. The building down the street from me is quarantined. People on the street are wearing masks. I am going to a dinner and someone texts me about how many people are going  b/c of the swine flu scare. In the airport if you get off an international flight you are greeted with masked faces and a thermometer.

Some were excited, some were told not to stand on their balconies, and many were even given the day off of work. Cab drivers were saying it was a great day…Why? Because although many presidents have come to Egypt (mostly to Sharm El Sheikh, a resort on the Red Sea) this was the first time for a US President to come to Cairo. It was a big deal, with roads being paved and cleaned in the days leading up to US President Obama coming to Cairo. It was also one of the emptiest days on the streets.

So when I started to work with the khayameya I realized that my intention and the intentions of the khayameya workers were different. Not different in that we couldn’t agree, but just coming from different perspectives, which in the end turned out to be complementary. I had this idealistic, ambitious vision of simultaneously retaining craftsmanship, reviving cultural heritage, creating employment opportunities, etc…. For them, it is simply a source of income. Many are gifted in the craft, some tell me it is their favorite time of day when they work, and for others it's just work. But they don’t do it for idealistic reasons, they do it because they have inherited or been taught a way of living. So for Ayadi’s work to be successful we had to bridge the workers' perspectives as well as the vision of Ayadi. 

My first 6 weeks of officially working for Ayadi Organization I did on-the-ground research of various crafts around Egypt.  I was looking to find a craft that has been passed down for hundreds of years and that would benefit from working with Ayadi.  My vision was not to create something new.  I didn’t want something redundant or to recreate the wheel if it had already been created and spinning, but rather to build on others' work and make more impact. 

To name just a few of the beautiful craftsmanship that are part of  Egypt's rich and dying cultural heritage, I saw glass being hand-blown in the City of the Dead in Cairo, pottery in Fayoum (1.5 hours from Cairo), mother-of-pearl boxes being cut and assembled, etc….  Every time I saw a new craftsman at work I wanted to work with him.  But of course to be realistic and to have impact, I decided to start with one craft for a 6-month pilot project, and then expand or reassess.