Comercialización

All CBO members I interviewed at SAFWAC and in Maadi valued the provision of educational activities in the CBOs.311 At SAFWAC, CBO leaders and volunteers often listed it as one of their greatest achievements and strengths of the CBO to enable Somali women to learn to read and write or to acquire skills that enhance their opportunities to earn money.312 Learning Arabic was seen as especially beneficial as it promotes Somali women’s self- reliance and ability to negotiate their daily lives, may it be to give their signature, to read street signs, to communicate with Egyptians or even to avoid being ripped off in the payment of bills and groceries.313 Concerning some skills students at SAFWAC learnt, Caaisho mentioned that some became good enough to sell some of their hand-made things or to work as hairdressers and that even if they were not able to sell their handmade products, they would at least be able to do something productive and make gifts for others and things for themselves.314

As explained in the previous chapter, SAFWAC has more resources available to run educational programs. At the time of my research, they had different courses running. Some were taught by Somali volunteers and usually for free. For other courses (like Arabic, tailoring and coiffeur) SAFWAC had Tadamon micro-grants available through which they could fund materials or even pay qualified teachers from outside a small salary. For some courses, they also asked students to pay a small fee. The CBO leaders, however, would like to have more funds and a bigger place available in order to be able to offer more courses and run more awareness programs.315

311_{Focus group with CBO members of SAFWAC; Xalwo, interview by author, SAFWAC center, March 6,} 2013; Alemo; Caaisho; Caaliyah; Dahabo; Feynuus; Ladan; Shamso; Siman; Ubax; Xirsi.

312_{Nasteha; Salma; Khadra; Frahan; Faadi; Nasro.} 313

Farhan; Nasro; Rukia. 314_Caaisho.

93

Demanding course fees or searching for a bigger space seems hardly possible in the Somali center in Maadi where CBO members have to make monthly contributions to rent payment in order to keep the existing center open. The CBO had only acquired one micro-grant in 2013 through which it was able to bring in an outside teacher for crochet. The members were hoping for an approval of two new micro-grants for 2014 at the time of my research. Apart from that, CBO leaders or Somali students have been given courses or took them over when I left (to teach English) or the micro-grant ran out for the crochet course. Educational classes were, however, generally less structured than at SAFWAC. In the Arabic class at SAFWAC, for example, students follow a course book and have to pass final examinations in order to enter the next course level. At the center in Maadi, by contrast, the Arabic alphabet was taught alongside the Quran during the time of my research. The number of Somalis in Maadi who could possibly teach Arabic is small and mostly limited to those who have already other commitments such as their studies, work or their involvement in the CBO by other ways. The CBO would like to offer more classes, but lack of human and financial resources prevents from doing so.

The CBOs provide educational activities at no or only minimal costs. This gives those, who are not able to afford to pay for any education, the opportunity to learn a language or skill and to become productive. While it would be bold to argue that they resist against state control, one can still draw a connection to Zibechi’s conceptualization of collective activism of marginalized people in that they create new spaces for themselves in order to improve their lives and resist against their marginalized situation.

There is a weak point, however, to this argument. Sources of funding for educational and vocational training activities are mainly searched through Tadamon micro-grants and not through fundraising among Somalis inside or outside Egypt, as described by Al-Sharmani in

94

the case of SRCOE, SSRD and ESD.316 The micro-grants constitute an opportunity for groups and CBOs to implement projects they would otherwise not be able to realize. On the other hand, it certainly creates dependency on humanitarian actors, creating a hierarchical relationship of power in which the donor dominates over the receiver of grants.

The decisions for the distribution of Tadamon grants is made by a committee composed of staff from UNHCR, Tadamon and Terres des Hommes. The UNHCR Senior Community Service Assistant affirmed the process to be fair and to be judged on the basis of the application, not affiliation.317 Both SAFWAC and the Somali Community in Hadayek el Maadi had received each one micro-grant in 2013.At the beginning of March 2014, both CBOs were still waiting for the decision over their new applications for micro-grants which they filed at the end of 2013. SAFWAC has been continuing its programs. However, it is to be questioned how long they can do it without either asking for more fees from participants or finding alternative solutions, especially if they want to keep hiring teachers for a small remuneration. In Maadi, Somali female women have equally been continuing to meet in order to crochet and those more experienced help others to become more skilled in the handicraft. However, the women have to pay for all material expenses by themselves. The Somali community in Maadi has, furthermore, not been able to implement new skills-enhancing projects that entail financial expenses.

While the CBOs realize some educational activities without any funding, they are tied to external aid when it comes to the provision of projects that require money. This dependency of funding weakens the independence of CBOs as alternative spaces of service provision outside the humanitarian regime. It bears the risk of creating institutional relationships that dictate CBOs’ possible range of collective agency. If we look at Bourdieu’s and Foucault’s conceptualization of agency, decisions over designating funds create

316_{Al-Sharmani, e-mail message to author, April 8, 2014; Al-Sharmani, “Diasporic Somalis in Cairo,” 140.} 317_{UNHCR Senior Community Service Assistant.}

95

hierarchies of power that enable UNHCR and Tadamon to exert control over CBOs, thereby influencing, at least in part, the position of the CBOs as “agents in a social space.”318