Hend El-Banna, founder of the 'Containment' initiative to help people with burns, looks at a mirror for her make-up in Alexandria, Egypt, October 3, 2021. REUTERS Hanaa Habib, had his life be tested?
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt Nov 11 Reuters - More than 20 years after she lost burns to her arms, neck and chest when the kettle caught fire while making tea, Egyptian Hend el-Banna is trying to help other burn victims escape stigma and rejection she has long faced.
Born in Egypt and struggling to secure a job when she returned to Saudi Arabia, Banna grew up there. She was rejected four times, then engaged by each fiance's family because of her looks.
Now the owner of an online accessories brand called Shahrazad, Banna models items herself while running an association called Ehtewaa Inclusion from Alexandria, one of several charitable groups supporting burn victims in Egypt. Volunteers and doctors provide psychological care, medical treatment, and medical assistance to people with burn injuries.
One of around 500 people the organisation has helped over the past three years is 21-year old student Hanan Ashraf, who was burned after she poured gasoline into a fire at the age of eight.
When I was younger, I couldn't look at myself, she said. If I hadn't taken one picture in primary school, I would have never known what I looked like. Another is Mamdouh Mahmoud, 28, who has undergone surgery 17 times since being burned by fire on his father's carpentry shop two decades ago.
Having been rejected by many employers, he now works at a medical distribution warehouse where there is little interaction with outsiders as he still struggles with people's shock when they see his injuries.
Just because you're a burn victim does not mean you need to go above and beyond for people to like you, he said.