SEKEM provides its employees and workers with an exciting and ambitious work environment. The Sunday meeting, the morning and weekly circle, the Space of Culture, and the Core Program are all SEKEM’s unique ways to engage with its own community.
SEKEM – A special place to work
“Magic is believing in yourself. If you can make that happen, you can make anything happen.” – Goethe
No skill or knowledge is out of reach, everyone participates in the various Core Program activities ranging from acting, painting, and movement to language and communication skills. This enroots the confidence and openness into the individuals which enables them to try new things. At the same time, it strengthens the feeling of community and lets the group bond grow. And now, the Core Program is taking a new shape … the employees become the instructors.
Guided by the Core Program team, the new instructors got to learn and experience how to plan and lead a course, and how to teach others by passing on their own knowledge.
Women empowerment
Shaimaa Salah is a translator at Heliopolis University. She had participated in an external women empowerment workshop (‘Ana Hona’) a while back and she jumped at the first opportunity to share her experience with others. “I feel I learned so much from the experience, engaging in unfamiliar topics such as ‘the inner critic’ introduced by Dr. Rama Mani (guest lecturer), which really enriched the workshop. I was amazed by the ripple effect caused by the workshop, reaching even those who could not attend,” expresses Shaimaa.
Happiness at work
Dr. Amina Taitoon, the Alumni Unit manager at HU, led a very impressive workshop under the title ‘Happiness at work’. The workshop was a big success and was chosen to be presented during the Sunday meeting. Dr. Amina magically summarized the content in a one hour presentation in the form of a tale. The participants then shared their opinions and struggles to try to find solutions, and many initiatives were launched on the spot. “It was truly remarkable to discover how one’s motivation changes over time. The youth rushed to express how success and accomplishment were their main drive, while the top management expressed how helping others succeed became their criteria for success,” exclaimed Dr. Amina.
Color your life
Saly Sami is the Microfinance Project Manager at SEKEM Development Foundation. She is also passionate about art and took many courses to develop her talent. For the “Core Program” Saly led a painting workshop that focused on introducing colors, their meanings, and their impact. 
“I couldn’t believe that I could paint myself, it was very liberating to unleash the artist in me. It was also great to learn that Saly is so talented, not only as an artist but as an instructor as well,” said the happy participant Nagi Louis.
A sound mind in a sound body
Amina El-Shamsy is the CEO Assistant and had studied nutrition before she joined SEKEM. Amina ceased the opportunity to share her knowledge with her colleagues to help them lead a healthier and more energetic life. Now, she is working on launching an initiative to make the meals served at the SEKEM School cafeteria more healthy. “It’s not enough for the ingredients to be Organic, the meals need to be nutritious and balanced to help the kids’ growth and development,”explains Amina.
Happiness at work, women empowerment, choir, wellness, nutrition, gardening, body percussion, and history, are only a few of the new workshops initiated in the framework of the “Core Program”.
The new initiative is led by Nana Woo, who works as an Eurythmy instructor and contributes significantly to the development of the Core Program.
At the end of the one month program, all teams got to present their newly acquired skills on stage during the Sunday meeting. The presentation also was an opportunity to learn about the different courses in order to select those of interest in the next rounds.
Nadine Greiss
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