Written by: Dalia Omar
You may have seen or heard about wonder women and how unapologetic bad-asses they can be, but can you imagine having one of them in Egypt? Some may call her the construction Bakar, others might call her the Toktok driver but we call her the Egyptian Wonder Woman. She’s Baheya Ali Soliman.
Baheya Ali Soliman, a 32 year old from Beni Suef in Upper Egypt, has been through a lot after her husband had an accident leading to a stroke and resulting in deafness as well as muscle atrophy. She had to be the man of the house and drive her husband’s Toktok to make a living for her family. Yet money was tight so she had to find another source of living. She started working as a construction worker with the guys, but was faced with harassment from a fellow worker. As a result, she decided to let go of her womanly shape and transform her physique into a manly look. She shaved her head and wore manly clothes to blend in.
During the day, she’s at the construction site and at night she drives the Toktok. Debts started piling up and she didn’t find another way out of it other than selling her kidney for 25K Egp (aka exploitation since organs are sold for a much higher price). Debts accumulated again after a while when her Toktok’s license expired, so she asked doctors if she could sell part of her liver but her body was too weak for it.
She had such a simple dream to be able to live a humanely life, feed her children and to be debt free. This is all she has ever strived for. She deserves to be Woman of the Year for all sacrifices she’s given. That’s why we call her the Egyptian Wonder Woman.
