I'm half-British, half-Egyptian and have a background in design and philosophy. Just before the Egyptian revolution, I decided to start an NGO with a friend, dealing with the problems faced by rural farming communities. The revolution happened, and after getting involved in a tonne of projects for the restoration of Egypt, we finally started Nawaya, an NGO quested with Sowing the Seeds for True Sustainability, in Egypt.

Shortly after the revolution, I attended an Art of Hosting Social Transformation workshop, through which the idea for Nawaya was cemented. I also started to build a network of "development" friends, all of whom have had a hand in making Nawaya happen. It was shortly after the Art of Hosting that I found out about Permaculture, Ecovillage Design, and Ecosystem Services.

I attended an Ecovillage Design Education in Senegal (part of the Global Ecovillage Network outreach with Gaia Education). During the EDE I became aware of how the blend of Permaculture, Ecovillage Design, Ecosystem Services restoration and Art of Hosting Techniques could be used as a synergistic whole for holistic care of people and land. Shortly after I returned from Senegal, our NGO, Nawaya, incorporated 3 Permaculture practitioners in to the core team. Shortly after that, the first in-house PDC in Egypt was born, of which I had the privilege of being one of the graduating class.

With the blend of Permaculture, Ecoviiage Design, Ecosystem Services restoration and the Art of Hosting, we believe we can develop a holistic system that will allow us to carry out our mission of:
The co-creation of self-reliant, bountiful and resilient Egyptian communities!