For over 40 years, SHE dressed as a HE to feed family

Forced to raise her daughter alone after the death of her husband, an Egyptian decided at age 21 that she would disguise herself as a man in order to work.

Sisa Abu Daooh says: “Those who are not happy, they can go to hell! ”

Sisa recalls how it all began: “My husband died when I was six months pregnant, I had no one to support me. “At the age of 21, she refused to remarry or live on charity, as tradition expected her to do. Determined and independent, she decided to work to provide for her daughter.

The young woman takes a radical decision: to dress as a man, shaves her hair and adorns a “galabeya” – the traditional male attire, she worked for years in construction, brick making, or in the fields. She chose villages where nobody knew her

Only relatives and neighbors were aware of her transformation. Her nephew said: “Initially we tried to dissuade her, but she was so stuborn”

“Tolerance is not shared by all: his siblings decided to cut all contact with Sisa after radical decision.

She is not shy to defend herself, she says “If anyone was rude with me, I will also be rude. »

In the end, she commands respect, people understand that it is primarily a means of “survival.” In recent years, tired and weakened, it shines shoes near Luxor Station. Brush in hand, she says: “I have done all this for my daughter. If it was a boy, I would not have done. But I was afraid that it ends in the street. So I protected, I high and I was able to send them to school until she marries. »

Egyptian journalists discovered her incredible story, Soon after, the Governor of Luxor offered her a kiosk near the bus station where she sells sweets and cigarettes.

The case even reached the highest level of the government where the president of the country Abdel Al-Sissi honoured her with an award.