Cairo metro's first female train drivers have spoken of the admiration — and occasional disapproval — they have received from commuters since taking the controls.
The metro’s contingent of female drivers were hired in April, a first in a predominantly Muslim Arab country.
It coincides with the significant expansion of the Cairo metro, which is used daily by up to five million of the Egyptian capital’s 20 million residents.
Cairo's metro has been the transport mode of choice for many of the city’s working and middle classes, despite significant fare increases in recent years.
It has, however, failed to reduce the near total reliance on cars of the city’s more affluent commuters, perpetuating Cairo's nightmare traffic congestion and air pollution.
Reflecting the city’s conservatism and frequency of sexual harassment in public places, the Cairo metro has women-only carriages to protect female passengers.
One of the new female drivers is mother-of-two Hind Omar, who said she rushed to apply to be a train driver, eager to be a pioneer in a country where only 14.3 per cent of women are in formal employment, according to 2020 figures.
"I have several thousand lives in my hands every day," said the 30-year-old business graduate, wearing a fluorescent jacket.
"My parents found it strange at first, but they ended up supporting me. My husband was enthusiastic from the start and always encouraged me."
One perk that attracted her even more is the exemption of women drivers from doing the night shift, she said.
The tests for would-be drivers, she said, required her and other candidates to demonstrate their "attention span" and "endurance".
Another driver, Suzanne Mohammed, 32, recalled the first time commuters on the platform saw her in the driver's cab.
She said she could understand "they were surprised" in a country where women have limited access to many careers.
"Some passengers were afraid," she said. "They doubted my skills and said they didn't feel safe with a woman at the controls."
Launched in 1987, the Cairo metro is the oldest in the Arab world, but has fallen behind other Arab countries in providing employment opportunities for women.
Moroccan Saida Abad became the first female train driver in Africa and the Arab world in 1999.
In Saudi Arabia, where women had until recently been banned from driving cars, a first group of women is currently going through training to become railway drivers.
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Norwich City 0 Southampton 3 (Ings 49', Armstrong 54', Redmond 79')
Points about the fast fashion industry Celine Hajjar wants everyone to know
- Fast fashion is responsible for up to 10 per cent of global carbon emissions
- Fast fashion is responsible for 24 per cent of the world's insecticides
- Synthetic fibres that make up the average garment can take hundreds of years to biodegrade
- Fast fashion labour workers make 80 per cent less than the required salary to live
- 27 million fast fashion workers worldwide suffer from work-related illnesses and diseases
- Hundreds of thousands of fast fashion labourers work without rights or protection and 80 per cent of them are women
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AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
Generational responses to the pandemic
Devesh Mamtani from Century Financial believes the cash-hoarding tendency of each generation is influenced by what stage of the employment cycle they are in. He offers the following insights:
Baby boomers (those born before 1964): Owing to market uncertainty and the need to survive amid competition, many in this generation are looking for options to hoard more cash and increase their overall savings/investments towards risk-free assets.
Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980): Gen X is currently in its prime working years. With their personal and family finances taking a hit, Generation X is looking at multiple options, including taking out short-term loan facilities with competitive interest rates instead of dipping into their savings account.
Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996): This market situation is giving them a valuable lesson about investing early. Many millennials who had previously not saved or invested are looking to start doing so now.
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Manchester United 1 (Fernandes pen 2') Tottenham Hotspur 6 (Ndombele 4', Son 7' & 37' Kane (30' & pen 79, Aurier 51')
Man of the match Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
