Every mother wants to be the best mom to her kids. But for Sisa Abu Daooh based in Egypt’s Luxor town, the Best Mom tag didn’t come the regular way.
Abu Daooh is a woman who sacrificed her femininity for her child. She gave up everything that defined her to be a man and put food on the table. This woman disguised herself into a man to find employment four decades ago in her conservative society where working women were not accepted.
Though Abu Daooh would have loved to take up a clerical job which would have been much easier, she wasn’t qualified enough to get one and had to take up labouring jobs which weren’t conducive for women. So she underwent a role reversal, quite literally, to feed her little girl, Hoda.
Abu Daooh’s husband died when she was six months pregnant and had no other choice than to fend for herself. Her brothers forced her to remarry but she decided to take charge of her own life. She even harvested wheat and did other meagre shoe-shinning tasks to make a few bucks. And she did a great job out of it. She reportedly felt extremely comfortable in a man’s clothes as she was looked upon as one of their own by the men around. She even escaped all advances and sexual harassment, disguising as a man and soon this became her way of life. In fact over the years it became her identity.
Her efforts paid off. The people in her town, when they realised the truth, decided to recognise her efforts and gave her the Most Devoted Mother title. Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi gave her a certificate and a Kiosk that will help her support her family.
The 65-year-old needs the money and continues to work even today as she has to support her daughter whose ailing husband cannot work.
She also stated that she wouldn’t stop living like a man, as that’s her life now. We admire the efforts of this woman who went to great lengths for her daughter but also feel ashamed for a society that’s so conservative that women cannot exist without a ‘man’ in their lives. This Egyptian woman is a great inspiration mothers and to women who crumble under societal pressure and give up on their dreams and aspirations.
Image courtesy: You Tube
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