Angelina Jolie shares 87-year-old Egyptian woman’s love for education

Syed Shayaan Bakht, Gulf Today

Hollywood actor and humanitarian Angelina Jolie published a picture of an Egyptian woman named Zubaida, who is 87 years old, and she is taking a literacy exam within the framework of the Egyptian Ministry of Social Solidarity's initiative, "No illiteracy with solidarity."

Jolie shared, through the short stories feature on Instagram, a post explaining the story of Zubaida, who took the literacy test, and the age was no barrier and the circumstances she went through did not prevent her from returning to her dream of learning.

Jolie said that Zubaida rather insisted that her sisters enroll in education, and stood by them until this was achieved.

The Egyptian Ministry of Social Solidarity had explained, through its accounts on social media, the story of Zubaida Abdel-Al Ali Al-Saeedi from the village of Dakma, Shebeen El-Kom Center, Menoufia Governorate.

The ministry said she passed the literacy exam, within the framework of the “No Illiteracy with Solidarity.”

Zubaydah is the mother of 8 children, 4 sons, and 4 daughters.

A son and a daughter died. She is the grandmother of 13 grandchildren and a granddaughter.

She was not educated at a young age.

She is the daughter of a man who did not see the importance of female education.

After her father’s death, she insisted that her sisters join education and stood beside them.

Zubaida got married at the age of 18 and gave birth to her children soon and was keen on educating them.

She used to sell some simple goods in front of her children's school out of keenness to follow them and for fear that they would drop out of education.

She imitates her children while they are writing.

Zubaida is focused on obtaining a certificate of literacy. She also dreams of completing her education, as she hopes to teach anyone who has a desire to learn.