Everyday, Om Mohsen sells her handmade designs and handbags in the streets of Tahrir. I first saw her inside the metro crocheting a gorgeously designed purple-pink clutch bag next to her son, and beside her was a bag full of her own designs and handmade products. “Do you sell this? Is it yours?” I asked her. “Yes, all of it is mine, but I don’t sell at the metro.” She then showed me her entire collection with enthusiasm, from school bags to tote bags, clutches and handbags. “I spent a whole week making this,” she tells me and the other women in the metro. Many of them looked well-made and were of good quality, and resembled the pieces made by other fortunate entrepreneurs selling in malls, stores, and online. Cairo’s street vendors are often reviled by the public and authorities for disturbing the order and security in the streets. Many of them also fall into generalizations that they are drug dealers, criminals, and thieves. Yet in recent years, particularly in the streets of middle class and upper class areas of the Fifth Settlement and New Cairo, many young people have…
Why Do We Not Support Egypt’s Street Vendors? Om Mohsen Shares Her Dream of Opening Her Store
February 29, 2020
