“I finally understand the true meaning of the word tawfir”

My name is Amal, I’m 14 years old and I live in Madinet El Salam. I joined the financial literacy program by Gozour Foundation as I have always been interested to know more about how to save intelligently. I think that the program was very beneficial for me and it was fun as it combines both educational and entertainment activities. The program was designed based on the use of interactive workshops rather than a presentation style technique, which encouraged me and my friends to stay engaged. As I see myself transitioning from childhood to adulthood, I do believe it is now essential for me to also transition from financial dependency to independence. I understood that the program will assist us to build wealth and also enable us to make some better informed choices in the financial market place. My friends and I would sometimes try to save money, organize our budgets but it’s always unplanned and we end up making the situation more cluttered. I was very excited the first day we started the financial literacy training. They gave us a saving diary in order to register our income and expenses. I was very excited to use it,as since I was little, I always saw my father using notebooks to write down our household’s expenses. The most memorable concepts that impacted how I think are; how to become financially responsible while saving,also setting my personal budget as well as prioritizing and keeping my expenses within my budget. The trainers also informed us about the different types of saving as well as the pros and cons of each type. They also explained to us how to successfully make a saving plan while setting short-term and long-term goals in order to eventually set a budget for a small project. After the trainings were terminated, I felt that I had a lot of information that I wanted to try or apply. This is why the second phase of the program was extremely advantageous for me. It provided me with an opportunity to utilize all the information I learnt throughout the training program. The second phase consisted of a competitive edutainment game, in which the winner gets a grant to turn their initiative into reality. We were divided into groups and were encouraged to present an initiative that we’d like to implement in our schools. My group and I started thinking and decided that providing our school with musical instruments and ventilation fans would be very useful for all of us. We presented our initiative and financing plans in front of a judging panel. They asked us a lot of questions that basically covered almost all the topics we were taught. Our group ended up getting the highest points and won the competition. We were ecstatic when we received the grant in order to provide our school with the needed equipment.