AP reports from Abu Zenima that amid a stunning vista of desert mountains, a Bedouin woman, Umm Yasser, paused to point out a local plant, and she began to explain how it was used in medicine to the group of foreign tourists she was guiding.
Umm Yasser is breaking new ground among the profoundly conservative Bedouin of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Women among the Bedouin almost never work outside the home, and even more rarely do they interact with outsiders. But Umm Yasser is one of four women from the community who for the first time are working as tour guides.
“It is against our culture, but women need jobs,” the 47-year-old Umm Yasser explained. “People will make fun of us, but I don’t care. I’m a strong woman.”
They are part of Sinai Trail, a unique project in which local Bedouin tribes came together aiming to develop their own tourism. Established in 2015, the project has set up a 550-kilometer (330-mile) trail through the remote mountains of the peninsula, a42-day trek through the lands of eight different tribes, each of which contributes guides. The project has been successful in bringing some income to the tribes, who often complain of being left out of the major tourism development of the southern Sinai, home to beach resorts and desert safaris.
Read more at thenationalherald.com
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