Real change does not happen overnight, but it always begins with a single step.
A step that begins with awareness, grows through dialogue, and evolves into a shared responsibility capable of protecting lives and futures of countless girls.
Driven by our belief at Egypt Without Disease for Healthcare Foundation that healthcare goes beyond treatment and begins with prevention, awareness, and protecting people’s well-being, we launched “Threads of Change,” a project dedicated to combating Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and raising awareness of its health, psychological, and social consequences.
Why Do We Need Change?
Some harmful practices continue for years simply because they have become part of our traditions and social norms, without us stopping to ask: Does the fact that something has been practiced for generations make it right? And should everything we have grown accustomed to continue, regardless of its consequences?
Female Genital Mutilation is one such practice.
Despite ongoing efforts to raise awareness of its risks, addressing FGM still requires greater knowledge and continued community dialogue, particularly in light of misconceptions that associate the practice with religion, traditions, or a misguided understanding of protecting girls.
This is where real change begins: challenging misinformation with knowledge, replacing fear with dialogue, and transforming deeply rooted practices through awareness.
“Threads of Change” From Awareness to Action
Threads of Change is a step taken by Egypt Without Disease for Healthcare Foundation to strengthen awareness of the risks associated with FGM and contribute to creating a safer and healthier environment for girls.
The project goes beyond simply delivering information. Sustainable change does not happen by merely telling people that a practice is harmful. It happens when we help them understand why it is harmful, what its consequences are, and how they can become part of the solution.
That is why the project focuses on several key areas that allow us to engage with communities from different perspectives, including:
- Raising awareness and correcting misconceptions surrounding FGM.
- Increasing awareness of the health and psychological risks associated with the practice.
- Creating spaces for community dialogue where beliefs and traditions can be discussed openly, consciously, and responsibly.
- Engaging religious leaders in addressing and correcting religious misconceptions related to FGM.
- Working with healthcare providers to strengthen their role in prevention and awareness.
- Collaborating with civil society organizations to expand the project’s impact and reach communities that are most in need of awareness and support.
Protecting Girls Is a Shared Responsibility
Combating FGM is not the responsibility of families alone, nor of healthcare professionals or organizations alone.
It is a responsibility shared by the entire community.
Parents need accurate information to make safer decisions for their daughters. Healthcare providers need to be part of the awareness and prevention process. Community and religious leaders have an important role to play in correcting misconceptions, while civil society organizations can reach communities and create safe spaces for dialogue, learning, and change.
When these roles come together, change becomes more than an awareness campaign; it becomes a sustainable community movement.
Change Begins When We Ask Questions
Sometimes, the hardest part of change is not knowing the truth, but having the courage to ask the right questions.
Do all the traditions we have inherited need to continue?
Is everything we have grown accustomed to truly safe?
Can we reconsider practices that we have accepted as normal for years?
And can our role simply be to give a new generation the opportunity to live safer, healthier lives?
These questions are where change begins.
Awareness is not about judging others. It is about having the knowledge we need to understand, engage in meaningful dialogue, and make choices that protect people’s health, well-being, and dignity.
From a Single Thread to Threads of Change
We chose the name “Threads of Change” because real change is much like a thread.
A single thread may seem fragile on its own, but when threads come together, they create a strong and lasting fabric.
The same is true for social change.
One person’s awareness can change a family’s decision. A family’s decision can protect a girl. And protecting one girl can be the beginning of change within an entire community.
Every person who shares accurate information, every conversation that opens the door to greater understanding, and every organization that extends a hand to participate adds another thread to the fabric of change.
This Is Not the End… It Is Only the Beginning
Launching “Threads of Change” is not simply the announcement of a new project. It is the beginning of a journey that we believe requires commitment, continuity, and collaboration.
At Egypt Without Disease for Healthcare Foundation, we believe that healthcare cannot be separated from awareness and prevention. Building a healthier community begins with understanding its needs, being present within its communities, and addressing the root causes of challenges not simply dealing with their consequences.
Through “Threads of Change”, we are taking another step toward a community that is more aware of girl’s right to live safe and healthy lives. We believe that every individual has the ability to become part of this change.
Because real change begins with a single step and we have taken the first step with “Threads of Change.”
Be Part of the Change
Awareness begins with knowledge and grows through participation.
Together, we can weave threads of awareness into meaningful change protecting our girls and building a safer future for generations to come.
