(Translated from Nisaa FM Arabic)

With a bandana tied around her head in her usual distinctive style and eye glasses concealing half of her features, the Egyptian taxi driver Umm Waleed waits for a customer nearly half her age. She has been in the driving proffession in Cairo for nearly 37 years and knows the streets of the Egyptian capital like the back of her hand. 

Umm Waleed, whos father was also a taxi driver, began her unconventional career after recieving a driving liscense in 1979 and set out on a path that would become lined with difficulties and challenges. 

In an interview she said " I did not try to learn any other proffession. When life forced me to start working to help support my family before I got married, i chose to work as a taxi driver like my father. [and i continued] In the same way, after I lost my husband" 

Living in the North of Cairo, Umm Waleed has three daughters who are all currently married. One of them has chosen not to work in order to focus on bringing up her small children, but the remaining two both have jobs. The fourth child, Waleed, passed away early. 

When she starts to talk about Waleed, a name that she insists reporters know, tears fall down her cheeks. She recalls " My son Waleed graduated from the Media College of The University of Cairo nearly ten years ago and then began work at a private newspaper. He died four years after graduating, and I had to return to work."  

Umm Waleed recollects her early memories of driving through the streets of Cairo in the firsts decades of her career in the male-dominated proffession of taxi driving. She talks about the communities acceptance of a female taxi driver, saying " the passengers of my car show respect for me being a woman taxi driver, despite it being a proffession for men."

Despite her love for her career, the Egyptian taxi driver complains that the hardships she faces are increasing as fuel prices in Egypt rise. On the 29th of June last year, the Egyptian Government approved an increase in fuel price and this has turned Umm Waleed's life upside down, forcing her to work longer hours to make up for the extra costs. 

In the past, Umm Waleed began work at 9 am and returned home at 5pm, often with time for an hour of relaxation during the afternoon. Now, however, she is working increasing hours to make ends meet.