In the words of Mona Salah: Tough situations push you to great things. If you are living very difficult circumstances, you can always make something good out of it.

Mona lives in a remote rural village with her husband and three daughters. As a child, she was pampered as the youngest in her family. But that changed when she was married off at the age of 18 to a man 12 years older, whom she barely knew. A year after her suffered a brutal attack that left him bedridden and unable to work. Once he had recovered, she started working odd jobs, but it wasn’t until she joined the programme that she truly found her calling.

“I found myself as a young 19-year-old girl, having to take care of my husband while also being a new mother to a 2-month- old baby. We were living off the support of our families and friends and that was extremely hard for me to accept and put my pride aside.

Tough situations push you to great things. If you are living very difficult circumstances, you can always make something good out of it.

I have taken so many jobs. But I never found the support I needed, mostly in terms of coaching, until I joined the programme. I received trainings, constant guidance and funding to start my own business. The programme taught me everything about sales and marketing, which I fell in love with from the very beginning – as if I had discovered my calling in life and hidden talent. In the trainings, I learned how to study the market and explore the gaps that need filling. This is how a good salesperson offers something unique to customers.

I soon ventured further and started my own online business selling handmade wood products and jewelry. With my hard work, my business has been growing, along with my profits.

I changed my life around completely. I went from living off of people’s help to being the one people go to for help. I went from working for a salary at the end of the month, to being a business- owner that wants to grow and take it to the next level.

I want my daughters to be proud of me when they look back at my life. I teach them that their ultimate goal should not just be wearing a wedding dress. Having only had the chance to obtain intermediate-level education, I aim to give my daughters a high-level education and help them build their own businesses

– if they have the passion to do that. I am instilling in them values of independence.

I dream of one day establishing a big retail company and employing other women – mainly those in tough situations who need a hand– to help them out.

I urge every woman to search deep within herself, to realize her strengths and passions, to set goals and to work on achieving them.”