Now that's what I call a Result...

Back in December, I nominated Rabha for the Arab Women's Entrepreneurship Program. (If you are interested you can click here to learn more about the program.) In short, it is a 13-day entrepreneurial training, which takes place in Casablanca, and is for women from underserved backgrounds. I thought it would be an amazing opportunity for Rabha and I was excited to nominate her. 


Pleasingly, I received an e-mail in early January, stating that Rabha had been selected to attend an interview in Casablanca the following Friday. The interview would make or break her attendance in the program, but before we packed our bags and headed all the way to Casablanca (9 hour bus ride) I wanted to get some more information on the actual training. The application I filled out when nominating Rabha, simply stated that the training was 13 days and took place in Casablanca, so I needed a little more information regarding logistics and funding...


I sent an e-mail inquiring about the actual dates of the training and the costs involved and much to my surprise the response was this...Hotel is not paid for, neither is transport nor food. Only the training itself is paid for. On top of that, the training was to be held on these dates: 18-19-20-25-26-27 January ; 1-2-3-8-9-10-15 February. Those aren't even consecutive dates! She would end up either having to stay a month in Casablanca (imagine the hotel bill at the end of that!) or making  the initial trip for the interview, plus five additional roundtrips for the actual training, along with hotel costs and meals for all those trips. 


Irritated and bewildered at the thought of how 'women from underserved backgrounds' could actually afford this training (not to mention the copious amount of time away from home), I ended up sending this e-mail: 

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to you on behalf of Rabha Akkaoui who recently was preselected for the Arab Women's Entrepreneurship Program. 

Unfortunately, due to the financial costs involved with the program she will not be able to go the prescreening interview on January 13th, 2012. 

I would like to point out that on the AMIDEAST website it states that the program is 'designed to provide women entrepreneurs from underserved backgrounds with training and support that will help them start a new business or expand an existing one'.

The point that I would like to make is that if this program is truley designed to provide women from underserved backgrounds an opportunity, it is not designed fairly. 

How can you expect a woman from an underserved background to be able to afford to pay for transportation to Casablanca (twice as the interview would mean two trips to Casablanca),  close to a months stay in a hotel, and meals for a month? 

I would like to suggest in the future that the program offer the above mentioned costs to be either partially covered if not fully. 

Rabha would have been an asset to the training and it is a pity to know that her attendance is hindered by financial costs. 

Many thanks,

Annemarie Athey

United States Peace Corps

Small Business Development

Another volunteer, Michele, also nominated her counterpart for the training. Her counterpart was fortunate enough to also get selected and was able to attend as she has family to stay with in Casablanca. I was hesitant to send the above e-mail, but Michele encouraged me to send it and am I ever glad she did. 

Yesterday, I received this e-mail from Michele:

keep up the activism:

the Amideast Arab Women's Entrepreuneur program is now paying for

hotel rooms & meals for the women!!!

probably 100% thanks to you!

I am SURE your bringing up the flaw made them see their

error.

I also found out that the dates have been condensed so that time away from home is minimized. 

It's a bittersweet triumph though, as Rabha didn't get to attend. There's always next year though...Inshallah (God willing)! 

Miriam x