When I was in the UK prior to 2002 my life was pretty selfish. Sure I looked after my husband and child but that was all I looked after.
We were married in 1989 and I worked for corporate banks and insurance companies earning really good money. I ought to have had really good savings as well but with no job and no prospects my husband was quite depressed. He had no control over his life. The only control he had was spending money and how much we were in debt. If you ever wondered who bought all those TimeLife mood music sets I can tell you. In fact he had so many videos, CDs etc. we had duplicates. I am not sure why we needed 9 TV’s and 15 video players plus 3 satellite dishes but Ayman reckoned they were vital.
Fast forward to 2002 and he died. One thing I had taken care of was life insurance. In fact 3 months before he died we got an offer for an extra 5k of cover with no questions asked. We could not believe it, he was diagnosed terminal at this point but they absolutely didn’t ask any questions so we signed up immediately. We only paid 2 months premiums before he died. Insurance Company Nil Akshars 1. The money still left a mortgage but it was comparative tiny 50k instead of 250k
Then I was deciding what to do next, I realised I could not continue to be an independent contractor working silly hours as a single parent. I was investigating going to university and studying Egyptology so our holidays and work hours would be more in sync. I was entitled to lots of help as a single parent.
Then Mahmoud came into my life, we rapidly became an item. He suggested that we have a business in Egypt. So I could either study Egyptology or I could live it. No contest.
So I moved to Egypt. I put all my abilities into building our business. I saw myself as a conduit into getting business for the locals. We employed guides, drivers, cleaning staff, restaurant staff. Boat captains, caleche drivers all got business. We built more and more apartments employing more locals. As fast as Mahmoud built them I was filling them with guests. Our last Christmas party we had 84 people just from our apartments.
Then we had the revolution, in a few weeks I lost 10k of business. Things didn’t pick up. We were still trying our best but there just wasn’t any business out there. 2013 was our worst year. I had to email friends back in the UK and beg for help to buy insulin. Thank God they responded.
During all this time Colette Mason was helping and encouraging me, she suggested I sell my services to small business , I was running my own IT so I could do it for other people. Gradually I have built a very modest business which has cleared our debts and paid to keep us going. Our tourism business doesn’t even cover costs, all those apartments have property tax, electricity and cleaning costs. But we have survived and been able to help others less fortunate. We still provide for about 30 people with our reduced staff and family.
Today I needed help. It is technical but basically the database that holds my bookings was broken. It was not something I could fix, I don’t have PHP skills. I asked Colette if she knew someone with those skills and she made a couple of suggestions including a project manager who uses resources in India. He said his team could do it. And they did, he did not even charge me.
So I realised that by changing my life to help others, others help me. I am so very very grateful to all the people who have given me a helping hand over the last 6 years. You know who are but I am especially grateful to Colette. And to God who gave me the skills to help myself and good friends to help when needed.
We were married in 1989 and I worked for corporate banks and insurance companies earning really good money. I ought to have had really good savings as well but with no job and no prospects my husband was quite depressed. He had no control over his life. The only control he had was spending money and how much we were in debt. If you ever wondered who bought all those TimeLife mood music sets I can tell you. In fact he had so many videos, CDs etc. we had duplicates. I am not sure why we needed 9 TV’s and 15 video players plus 3 satellite dishes but Ayman reckoned they were vital.
Fast forward to 2002 and he died. One thing I had taken care of was life insurance. In fact 3 months before he died we got an offer for an extra 5k of cover with no questions asked. We could not believe it, he was diagnosed terminal at this point but they absolutely didn’t ask any questions so we signed up immediately. We only paid 2 months premiums before he died. Insurance Company Nil Akshars 1. The money still left a mortgage but it was comparative tiny 50k instead of 250k
Then I was deciding what to do next, I realised I could not continue to be an independent contractor working silly hours as a single parent. I was investigating going to university and studying Egyptology so our holidays and work hours would be more in sync. I was entitled to lots of help as a single parent.
Then Mahmoud came into my life, we rapidly became an item. He suggested that we have a business in Egypt. So I could either study Egyptology or I could live it. No contest.
So I moved to Egypt. I put all my abilities into building our business. I saw myself as a conduit into getting business for the locals. We employed guides, drivers, cleaning staff, restaurant staff. Boat captains, caleche drivers all got business. We built more and more apartments employing more locals. As fast as Mahmoud built them I was filling them with guests. Our last Christmas party we had 84 people just from our apartments.
Then we had the revolution, in a few weeks I lost 10k of business. Things didn’t pick up. We were still trying our best but there just wasn’t any business out there. 2013 was our worst year. I had to email friends back in the UK and beg for help to buy insulin. Thank God they responded.
During all this time Colette Mason was helping and encouraging me, she suggested I sell my services to small business , I was running my own IT so I could do it for other people. Gradually I have built a very modest business which has cleared our debts and paid to keep us going. Our tourism business doesn’t even cover costs, all those apartments have property tax, electricity and cleaning costs. But we have survived and been able to help others less fortunate. We still provide for about 30 people with our reduced staff and family.
Today I needed help. It is technical but basically the database that holds my bookings was broken. It was not something I could fix, I don’t have PHP skills. I asked Colette if she knew someone with those skills and she made a couple of suggestions including a project manager who uses resources in India. He said his team could do it. And they did, he did not even charge me.
So I realised that by changing my life to help others, others help me. I am so very very grateful to all the people who have given me a helping hand over the last 6 years. You know who are but I am especially grateful to Colette. And to God who gave me the skills to help myself and good friends to help when needed.
