This year, Egypt's Ministry of Social Solidarity organized its annual handicrafts exhibit, Diyarna, which translates to Our Homes, under the slogan "We are all Sinai." About 1,000 women sold handicrafts at the exhibit, which was held Dec. 3-17 in Nasr City, Cairo. The exhibit took place in the wake of the Nov. 24 terrorist attack at al-Rawda mosque in north Sinai, which left 311 dead. According to the ministry, the profits from this year's Diyarna, which exceeded 7.3 million Egyptian pounds ($408,289), were donated to fund development in north Sinai villages.
The unprecedented attack cost al-Rawda village about a quarter of its male residents. In 2016, just under half of al-Rawda's population of 2,111 was male, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics. Hundreds of Sinai women have found themselves enduring extremely difficult living conditions and unsafe situations after losing their husbands in the attack.
