Shahd Alhamdan

Saudi Gazette

Mona Adel is a 27-year-old Egyptian housewife who, only by chance, became Egypt’s first female wood engraver to work side-by-side with her husband in a trade that takes time, dedication and skill to create beautiful works of art.



A mother of three, Adel has only been to high school. She has been engraving since 2010 as she wanted to spend more time with her husband who himself is an engraver.



Adel was in a relationship with her husband, a cousin, for two years before they tied the knot. However, her marriage was not all bliss at the beginning as her husband would be out working as an engraver for several days at a time to earn money. The couple presently lives with his parents.



Impressed by his craftsmanship, Adel’s husband began attracting a lot of customers, particular for doors. It was then that he felt the need to employ someone to work alongside him.



“One day he told me that he is looking for a partner to lend him a hand at work. I then suggested becoming his partner so I could spend more time with him,” said Adel. “It was a win, win solution as I couldn’t get time to spend with him,” she added.



Adel began visiting apartments with her husband and started off by passing him tools. She slowly learned how to engrave doors, tables, chairs and even stone. At the beginning, engraving was difficult and she would have to tolerate her husband’s criticism, especially when the incisions she made were not deep enough. However, over time she became very proficient.



“At present, I usually work on my own when visiting homes where there are only women. However, if there is a family living there then I will go with my husband,” she said.



She is now proficient in what she does, but says she still needs her husband’s help when it comes to working with stone which is tough and requires strength.



As a woman, she adds her own feminine touch to the pieces she works on, such as flowers. She works six hours a day for four days a week. Recently, she engraved a dining table and chair for a couple who are soon to marry. “They loved the engravings which are full of flowers. I still need to engrave the walls in the dining room, but it is difficult working with stone and so my husband will sort that out,” she said.



The money that she earns is shared with her husband. “If I earn 2,000 Egyptian pounds on a project that my husband has helped me with then we split the money. I get 700 and he will get the rest,” she added.



When she goes to work, Adel leaves her children at home with her mother in law after preparing lunch and cleaning the house. “We agreed that since we live with his parents, I would be allowed to leave my children and go out with him for several hours,” said Adel.



Adel says she does not care about what people think in relation to her as a woman working as an engraver. Instead, she dreams of earning enough money to buy her own home.



“Some people encourage me to continue in this line of work, but others cannot accept that a woman is working like this alongside her husband,” she said.



She has little social life and barely gets time to meet friends and family, as she works and also has household chores and children to look after. Sometimes, she says, she only sleeps four or five hours a night.



Some Egyptians say Adel’s line of work is challenging and risks. Lubna Abdulaziz, an Egyptian female in her 20, has known Adel for many years. “I think it is still challenging for Mona to be in this line of work and deal with male customers,” she said.



Commenting on whether Adel working challenges social stereotypes, Hani Henry, a professor in psychology at the American University in Cairo, said, “These are not examples of women breaking the glass ceiling since jobs such as these … are not high paying privileged jobs. We cannot make a generalization on how these jobs will affect their personalities or mental health. People are different with respect to how they cope with matters and their resilience.”



Adel and her husband, however, are unperturbed. They are busy with a new customer, discussing how they will engrave the two doors in a living room and four small tables.