Michael’s Journey: Breaking Barriers, Building Belonging.

Read the article in Arabic

 

‘If we could go back, we would hire him again without hesitation; and it’s something we will actively seek out in the future.’  Samer Battah, is the Financial Manager in Xlab Group, in Alexandria, Egypt, and the employee he is praising is Michael Magdy, a worker at Xlab for the past couple of years. Another colleague George Winget Winget, the Accounting Manager at Xlab, warmly agrees: ‘Although Michael may not talk much, his mere presence radiates positivity. With him, I feel a sense of joy and contentment.’  

So who is Michael, and how might he be showing his own kind of leadership in his society, showing the path forward for other women and men with intellectual disability in Egypt seeking the dignity of a job offering fulfilment and enjoyment? 

Michael Magdy, working on a sewing machine

This is Michael’s story. He himself is a modest man, a member of the L’Arche community in Alexandria. He finds it easier to express himself through actions more than through words: ‘My name is Michael Magdy. I am 32 years old.’ His mother Margaret Magdy recounts the first mountain that her son needed to climb, on his journey to employment. With his father’s death followed by his brother’s departure from the family home, he lost two of his closest relationships. This threw Michael into a period of deep sorrow.  Mrs. Magdy explains: ‘it was just Michael and me. He would stay in his bed all day long. He wouldn’t move from it.’ In addition, Michael was shy about speaking: ‘He seemed afraid to talk. He believed that his pronunciation was incorrect or broken.’ 

But she was convinced of her son’s hidden potential. Given the right conditions, she knew that Michael could shine. His gifts stood out from an early age: Fr. Nasser Kromel Basili recalls how Michael had impressed him while still a child: ‘I felt that he liked to work and to be quiet, and I admired that about Michael. 

 

Fast forward 20 years, and Michael was now a young man looking for a job. With much encouragement from his mother, Michael was finding new strength to overcome his grief and face the world. One piece of good news was that in 2014, under President Abd el-Fattah el-Sisi, the government had passed the Rehabilitation Law requiring all companies to employ 5% of the workforce to include people with disabilities. This was in fulfilment of the obligations taken on under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Egypt had signed in 2007. But apart from this being a human rights issue, Farid Salama, Board President of L’Arche Mog AlHob explained that the aim was ‘to have [disabled people] in the community life in the city.’ In other words, the law intended that people with disabilities would have a role to play in the ongoing social and economic progress of Egyptian society. 

However, while in theory, this law brought welcome new work opportunities for men and women with disabilities, the reality could be very different. When a person is taken on, they can run into problems at work. This was Michael’s experience. He recalls his own first break: ‘When I was younger I worked at a plastic factory. We made plastic products for supermarkets.’  

Michael soon showed his value on the production line. But seeing his dedication, the firm started exploiting his good nature, giving him two machines to operate, instead of one. Mrs Magdy remembers: ‘One day, Michael came home exhausted. I told him, ‘that’s it’. You can’t continue.’ After 9 months at the firm, Michael handed in his notice, much to his employer’s regret.  

It was the right decision, but a risky one for him. Very few of Egypt’s estimated 12 million disabled people are in work. The social stigma of disability is very strong. In some quarters, it is interpreted as a divine punishment, the person seen as a bringer of bad luck. A report published in 2010, indicated that out of embarrassment, families often hide disabled family members from their neighbours. The situation is worse for women than for men, in every respect. 

But as a forward looking country, Egyptian society was also witnessing a growing movement to change the way that disability was seen. Dr. Elsayed Shaaban is the Chairman of the Disability Committee on the 2030 Development Foundation: ‘Finding employment for people with disabilities is essential. The first positive impact is on their self-confidence and their sense of belonging in society.’  

So this was the culturally shifting environment in which Michael set off in search of a fresh start.  

Happily, it wasn’t long before he connected with L’Arche Mog AlHob’s café and guesthouse in Alexandria, where he quickly learned the skills needed: ‘I made drinks, I served drinks. I maintained the accounts.’  

At the window

This move was the key to a new spirit in Michael. When he first joined, he was quite shy’, recalls Aida Saleh, a staff member at the café. ‘Even when he said good morning, it seemed he lacked confidence.’  But it wasn’t long before the new job brought a positive effect: vocational assistant Christine Shawkey: ‘Over time, with the changes that happened, Michael began talking more with us and with other people with disabilities. He even started making jokes. He wasn’t afraid anymore to make mistakes.’ Together his colleagues paint a picture of a valued co-worker, whose skills and commitment make him a gift to the hospitality industry: ‘He always likes to help’, says Youssef Aseel, a longterm guest at the hotel. ‘So the days when Michael is not here, we feel something strange: where is Michael, we feel someone is missing!’  It is clear that Michael had found not just a job but a place of belonging: ‘I work with great people- the work at L’Arche is fulfilling.’ 

 

The guesthouse coordinator, David Fawzi, saw that Michael might get even more fulfilment from succeeding in a job outside L’Arche. ‘We want people with disabilities to be able, just like anyone else, to live their lives as independently as possible. That’s what I see as one of our goals: when some people with disabilities in the cafeteria have trained and regained self-confidence, they feel that they want to work elsewhere and now that’s what they do.’  

The link was made with Xlab, an advertising agency in Alexandria: Xlab was looking for a new staff member on their hospitality team. Anne Ashraf, the HR manager, met Michael and quickly realised that his skills and personality would make him an ideal fit. Michael soon proved his worth. ‘As we got to know him, we discovered a very friendly individual and a dedicated employee who consistently keeps his appointments’ recalls Samer Battah. ‘On a professional level, he has a positive influence on the workplace, always willing to help others’.  

Reflecting on Xlab’s experience with Michael, Group co-founder Samer Mady is clear that it is a question of ‘finding the right job, and not the minimum job. The minimum job is a very big mistake because when you give someone a minimum job you are implicitly giving the message: “you are more disabled: you can’t do this, you can’t do this”. Michael by contrast is continuing to develop in his role, and building his self-confidence: ‘It’s a good thing, I love my job. I am happy.’  

As Egyptian society finds new ways for its disabled members to participate, Michael’s success is significant: in him, potential employers can see the benefits of opening the door of work to people with a disability. He shows that when a person with disability is given a fair chance, the results can be surprising: in the words of Anne Ashraf, ‘the experience surpassed our expectations.’ 

Leaders come in many shapes and sizes. One such is Michael Magdy, who with modest determination is blazing a trail for his fellow-citizens with intellectual disabilities.  

Subtitles available in English, French and Arabic.