The overall goal of the program

Through this program, AUEED aims to enhance girls’, women, and men skills in traditional handicrafts, through training and coaching as well as supporting them to find suitable jobs to improving their living conditions; and help them develop their skills, and their communities.

Akhmim and Hegaza

In 1960, AUEED established the Collective Service Center in Akhmim in Sohag to preserve the handicrafts of hand weaving and embroidery from extinction due to their great value in a town with a long heritage. By giving opportunity to girls and women to work, produce and profit, their economic status shall be improved, as well as their personality and feeling of self-achievement, their awareness of the importance of teamwork, sense of innovation and creativity are significantly improved.

In 1979, the Association began working in the village of Hegaza in Qena, which is famous by AlSarsoue wood, so it became center for wood industries with a heritage dimension, with the participation of two French social pioneers who loved Upper Egypt.

A carpentry training workshop was held. This initiative succeeded and developed into the village of Hegazi, with the help of AUEED, an important center for the production of woodwork and small and medium furniture, from which dozens of trainees have graduated over the past years.

Nagada Center - Different Weaving:  

Nagada city was one of the main stations in the production of the Sudanese Ferka (manual woven traditional costume) until the nineties of the last century. The looms were neglected after the cessation of trade between Egypt and Sudan. Many began several attempts to revive this traditional handicraft to keep it from extinction and help the village people to make a living. In 2015 AUEED, in partnership with the Diocese of Nagada and Quos, started training girls and women in the production of new woven items (mainly shawls) and marketing those products

Vocational Training and Production workshops

The workshops started in 2003 by training groups of young people on carpentry, welding, electricity, plumbing, refrigeration, and air conditioning. Since 2005, the workshops worked to meet the needs of AUEED schools and development centers and got updated to become a competitor in producing school furniture for primary levels and kindergartens

Hotel Training Center (HTC AboKorkas)

The center was established and equipped at the highest level with funds from the Spanish Government and the technical support of the School of Hotel Management in Galicia, Spain, and the Egyptian Federation of Tourism. It was opened in 2014.

So far, 15 batches of trainees in the fields of cooking and front offices have graduated from it, with a total of 300 young people, 80% of them have joined work in major hotels in Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada and Marsa Alam.

The center started implementing "Youth Employment in Tourism Sector in Upper Egypt" project to train 150 young people 30% females for hotel specialties such as cooking - food and beverage service - internal supervision service - front office service - maintenance - electrical work and conditioning, as well as the rehabilitation of the center and the various approaches for adoption at the local and international levels.