Youth for Sustainability

Our programs are empowering young Egyptians to participate in finding solutions to the climate change challenge locally and globally. Read on to learn about some of our outstanding youth who hold the promise for a greener future.

Amira Nasser Abdelhamid and Al Zahraa Abdel Hafeez: Recycling Banana Waste

Meet Amira Nasser Abdelhamid and Al Zahraa Abdel Hafeez, the brains behind “Banana Art,” a startup that is transforming the waste of banana trees into paper, bags, and assorted other products. As 20-somethings, they were concerned about the air pollution that farmers caused by burning banana waste, a byproduct of the leading crop in their Upper Egypt province, Sohag. Seeking an environmentally friendly alternative to this traditional method of waste disposal, they created a machine capable of converting banana waste into fiber and then used the fiber to make eco-friendly products. When their prototype won first place in a national competition, they knew they were on the right track. With the support of Amideast's Citi-funded Youth Entrepreneurship Program, they transformed their concept into a sustainable business that is producing well-designed products capable of competing with similar products locally and internationally. Besides helping to mitigate a serious environmental problem, the young women are also realizing another goal of theirs: providing job opportunities for youth in poor villages in Upper Egypt.

Aliaa Ahmed, STEM Center Program Alumna

For 10-year-old Aliaa Ahmed, the LEGO^® WeDo2.0 course at Amideast’s STEM Center was an opportunity to explore, create, and share the scientific discoveries she uncovered in the process. Through this course made possible by a generous contribution from Boeing, she improved her critical thinking and teamwork skills as she built and demonstrated unique working models of powered machines and reflected on the steps involved in creating them. Aliaa’s participation in this course has inspired her to take on new challenges. Passionate about helping people and giving back to her community, she used Scratch to create an application that translates sign languages into spoken languages. Additionally, she participated in the Codeavour 2022 International AI & Coding Competition, winning fourth place in this global online event that encourages children to use AI and coding to develop solutions with the “purpose of making the world a better place.” Recently, she participated in the Young Innovators Challenge, where she was shortlisted among the top 10 participants.

Nader Ahmed Ali: Capturing the Sun

Nader Ahmed Ali’s goal is to help reduce Egypt’s dependence on oil and gas, which are major contributors to climate change. He found inspiration to pursue a career in renewable energy in Egypt’s most plentiful resource, its abundant sunlight, after reading that enough sunlight touches the earth every 24 hours to meet the energy needs of the entire planet for 24 years. Originally from Ismailia Governorate, Nader’s U.S.-Egypt Higher Education (HEI) Public University Scholarship enabled him to study electrical engineering at Cairo University, with a focus on renewable energy. Graduating earlier this year, he immediately found a job working at Agri Solar Egypt as a technical engineer. "I began my interest in climate change issues when I attended a course related to renewable energy in my faculty, and I then started working on a graduation project, which was about designing a photovoltaic system to supply an agricultural load. During this period, I became aware of the importance of the impact that this project has on the globe and Egypt’s 2030 Vision.”

Nourhan Beshir: Climate Activist

Nourhan Beshir began her environmental activism at the young age of 14, when she started her first social entrepreneurial initiative – an effort to provide nonformal environmental education for teenagers that quickly grew into a startup with the aim of raising environmental awareness in Egypt. Nourhan used her HEI Public University Scholarship to strengthen her skills as an impact-oriented social entrepreneur and sustainability engineer. She graduated in 2020 with a degree in Water and Environmental Engineering and took advantage of the HEI’s study abroad option to spend a semester in the environmental engineering program at California State University, Los Angeles. She is now working as a senior sustainability specialist at Coca-Cola HBC Egypt while continuing to advocate for non-formal environmental education.

Kareem Dawood: Eco-Friendly Cars

Originally from Banha, El-Qalubiya, Kareem Dawood is a fifth-year mechatronics engineering student at Cairo University, where he is gaining knowledge and technical skills to address one of the most serious challenges facing Egypt: the need to reduce energy-related carbon emissions and air pollution from gasoline-powered vehicles. Thanks to his HEI Public University Scholarship, he has been able to study in a top program in his field and participate in varied extra-curricular activities that include the Eco-Racing Club. He led his team in the global Shell Eco-marathon, winning top place for fuel consumption. Recently, Kareem completed a semester at San Jose State University and a four-month internship working on engine control and monitoring of electric cars at ECM in in California.

Seif Amro Ibrahim: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Program Alumnus

Seif Amro Ibrahim participated in the Reduce, Reuse & Recycle program at the Amideast STEM Center. Through the U.S. Embassy-funded STEM Plus Track for 16 to 22 year-olds, he completed an environmental engineering course that introduced him to diverse sources of pollution, water quality issues, and water filtration processes. Additionally, he completed the center’s Graphics, Animation & 3D Printing course, covering basic and advanced techniques of motion graphics, 2D animation, and an introduction to 3D animation. Using his newfound knowledge and skills, he produced an animated video to raise awareness of the impact of automobile and industrial pollution on air quality and climate change and to offer possible solutions. Today Seif is an advocate for climate change and environmental issues and is excited to have been selected as a volunteer at COP27.

Seit Amro Ibrahim, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Program Alumnus

Taha Ismail: Volunteering for the Planet

Born and raised near the Red Sea, HEI Public Scholarship recipient Taha Ismail is passionate about volunteering on environmental and climate action projects. As an electrical engineering student at Cairo University , he developed a keen interest in protecting the environment, spurred on by taking a risk management course and exploring the UN Sustainable Development Goals while attending the scholarship program’s community service camp. Subsequent community service opportunities have cemented his commitment. He has volunteered with Roaya NGO, helping to clean the Red Sea by removing and recycling plastic from mangrove forests, which are critical for sequestering carbon dioxide and serving as a natural buffer against storm surges that have increased with climate change. He also supported a team effort to collect posidonia weeds on the shore of the Red Sea and transform them into furniture and accessories and another team effort to collect dead fish on the shore and use them in the production of oils and fertilizers—an idea that won the team 10,000 Egyptian pounds in a competition. Taha also helped organize the Local Conference of Youth (LCOY) in preparation for COP27, which he is attending.

Shaimaa Kadry: Water Security and Desalination

Climate change is leading to unpredictable water availability worldwide, exacerbating water scarcity and increasing water contamination. For a desert country like Egypt, dependent on the Nile River as its main source of fresh water, this is especially true. HEI Public University Scholarship alumna Shaimaa Kadry was aware of this growing up in Hurghada, a small city in Egypt’s Red Sea Governorate, which has no access the Nile River. With the ocean as its only reliable water source, her community is dependent on water desalination systems. Shaimaa found her calling as she came to realize through her studies that combating climate change requires action both on a global scale and at the local level. At Assiut University, Shaimaa earned a degree in mechatronics, with a focus on water desalination. Now back home in Hurghada, she is working at El Yosr Water Treatment Station, seeking to ensure that her community will have quality drinking water. “My biggest hope for Egypt is for it to depend mostly on its own resources, including water through water desalination projects,” she says.

Youth for Sustainability

Our programs are empowering young Egyptians to participate in finding solutions to the climate change challenge locally and globally. Read on to learn about some of our outstanding youth who hold the promise for a greener future.