Wasalni Shokran: Whatsapp group that empowers women

CAIRO – 4 September 2017: ‘Wasalni Shokran’ (Give me a ride, Thank you) is a group on Whatsapp created by Asmaa Malik, 29, who lives in the tenth of Ramadan, to transport women and children inside the Tenth of Ramadan using her car. She created that group on Whatsapp to reduce the burden, prices and prevent harassment by taxi drivers.


Asmaa Malik - photo by fathia el Deeb

Asmaa Malik is a mother of two children. She works as a translator at a printing press, and has a clothing shop. She had problems delivering her products to her customers, so she asked her friend to deliver the clothes to the customers door step.

Then she had an idea of organizing a service of delivering products through Whatsapp and Facebook. The group started with 14 working women.


Asmaa Malik - photo by fathia el Deeb

This service transformed from a service sending products to doorsteps to a transportation program led by ladies from the Tenth of Ramadan.

The service received 260 requests from women in the city to deliver their children to nurseries, schools and university students at the beginning of the new school year.

Doaaa Mohammed, 30, a resident of the Tenth of Ramadan, says the idea has been widely accepted, but she has not used it yet.


Asmaa Malik - photo by fathia el Deeb

According to, Dalia Mahmoud, 19, a university student living in the Tenth of Ramadan city, the idea was new. Once she and her friends knew about Waslani Shokran, they started using the service.

Dr. Mahmoud Abdel-Dayem, a professor of human development and a member of the National Council for Women, Al-Sharqiya branch, said that the idea is very good, especially since women trusts each other more than men. However, there needs to be some sort of controls for the idea to succeed, and be a source of safety, rather than abuse. There has to be regulations and monitoring, including documentation and definition. They have to identify security and safety controls, and mechanisms to prevent abuse.