Egyptian woman honoured for 43 years of providing for family disguised as a man.

The Social Solidarity Directorate of Luxor gave a 64-year-old lady the “woman breadwinner" award, for earning a living for 43 years (disguised as a man) after the untimely death of her husband

64-year-old Sisa Abu Daooh this week received an award from the Egyptian government, for being the “ideal mother” of Luxor governorate. The resilient woman lost her husband while pregnant with her only child, which forced her to look for work 43 years ago. Due to the expectations and attitudes towards women at the time, Abu Daooh disguised herself as a man.

“I preferred working in hard labor like lifting bricks and cement bags and cleaning shoes to begging in the streets in order to earn a living for myself and for my daughter and her children,” she said. Abu Daooh added: “So as to protect myself from men and the harshness of their looks and being targeted by them due to traditions, I decided to be a man … and dressed in their clothes and worked alongside them in other villages where no one knows me.”

Source: Al Arabiya News