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Because the meeting was at the local mosque with
the imam and the local female doctor would be
there, Aleya decided to attend with her sister.
There they found other women from the village and
it gave them all some comfort in a situation that
was new and uncharted for the extremely closeknit
and traditional society in which they live.
USAID has helped women with family planning
all over the world including Egypt where the
population continued to rise over the last 20
years -- from 40 million to 67 million. Many rural
areas like Upper Egypt have not adopted family
planning. That's one reason Minya was chosen
for a demonstration project.
Encouraged if not emboldened by the presence
of friends and relatives, the women of Minya
began asking about family planning and were
told it was perfectly safe and not against Islam.
Aleya left the meeting with a pamphlet telling
her where the nearest family planning clinic was
located and the following day she went there to
ask about the best contraceptive method for her.
The pilot program is turning the statistics around
in Minya where only 23 percent of women had
previously used contraceptives, one of the lowest
rates in Egypt. Today it is 48 percent. USAID has
invested $180 million since 1978 to make family
planning services, information, counseling, and
materials accessible in Egypt.
The results indicate that by giving training and a
role to local religious and community leaders,
family planning programs have penetrated the
veil of suspicion that often blocks new ideas in
less developed areas.
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