TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Engy Abdalla
The Soft Skills Training for “El Mashgel” Artisans was part of the LEAP Program (Women’s Leadership, Empowerment, Access & Protection), which supports vulnerable refugee and host community women in Egypt. The training aimed to equip 15 women artisans working at El Mashgel production unit with essential soft and interpersonal skills that complement their craft-based economic empowerment.
The main objectives were to:
Strengthen communication, teamwork, adaptability, creative thinking, and problem-solving skills.
Increase employability and professional readiness for artisans with limited previous work experience.
Foster self-confidence, self-management, and collaboration to ensure the sustainability of El Mashgel’s production model.
Support personal development, community integration, and the ability to handle workplace challenges constructively.
Align with CARE’s and LEAP’s overarching goals of women’s economic empowerment and protection from gender-based violence (SGBV) by enhancing women’s agency, independence, and leadership capacities.
The training addressed identified gaps revealed through the needs assessment, including limited communication, lack of teamwork experience, low confidence in problem-solving, and difficulties in adapting to change.
The training brought together a diverse group of participants representing multiple nationalities and backgrounds. The target group consisted of refugee and host community women working at El Mashgel production unit.
Participants included women from Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Egypt, Iraq, and Eritrea, among others. This diversity enriched the learning experience, allowing for meaningful cultural exchange, peer learning, and mutual understanding. The multicultural composition also enhanced discussions around adaptability, communication, and teamwork core themes of the soft skills training.
The 10-day training program was designed as a dynamic and participatory learning journey for artisans, combining creativity, interaction, and practical application. The overall approach aimed to ensure engagement, inclusivity, and relevance by tailoring content to participants’ real needs and experiences.
The program began with a needs assessment phase that blended formal and informal tools. Each participant took part in an individual “wacky questions” interview—an interactive method that encouraged self-expression and helped reveal underlying skills, values, and attitudes. A group Needs Assessment Workshop followed, using competitive games to assess teamwork, problem-solving, and creativity. The “What’s on Your Radar?” exercise from the LUMA Human-Centered Design approach was also applied to identify individual and collective priorities.
Based on the assessment outcomes, the training content was developed and delivered using diverse, experiential methodologies. These included: LUMA Human-Centered Design for creative problem-solving and innovation, Theatre of the Oppressed techniques to enhance communication, empathy, and confidence, peacebuilding and teamwork exercises to promote cooperation and mutual respect, gamified sessions and visual presentations to ensure engagement and knowledge retention, market visits and peer exchange to connect learning with real-life practice.
The 10-day activity successfully achieved its intended outcomes and demonstrated measurable progress among the participants.
Key Achievements:
All 15 participants gained practical understanding and application of soft skills including communication, teamwork, conflict resolution, adaptability, creative thinking, and self-learning.
Participants showed noticeable improvement in self-confidence, self-expression, and motivation to learn and grow—as evidenced by post-assessment results and active participation during sessions.
The artisans practiced presentation and public speaking, team-based problem solving, and creative ideation using human-centered design tools.
Women expressed increased ownership and pride in their work, reporting that the training helped them overcome fear of speaking, manage conflicts, and better organize production processes.
Indirect benefits included better parenting skills, stronger collaboration within El Mashgel, and increased sense of empowerment and social belonging.
Evidence of Success:
Pre- and post-training assessments indicated tangible skill growth in all focus areas.
Positive qualitative feedback from participants highlighted improvements in teamwork, communication, and adaptability.
A detailed training report and supporting documentation materials were produced to summarize outcomes, lessons learned, and recommendations.
As the Lead Trainer and Consultant, my responsibilities included:
Designing, writing, and submitting a technical and financial proposal for conducting the training.
Leading coordination meetings with the CARE team to align objectives and content with project goals.
Designing, implementing, and reporting on the one-day needs assessment workshop that determined the topics to be tackled in the training.
Developing and facilitating the nine-day soft skills training program using participatory, gamified, and experiential methodologies.
Proposing and applying approaches such as LUMA Human-Centered Design, Theatre of the Oppressed, and Peacebuilding exercises.
Designing and conducting pre- and post-assessments to monitor progress and evaluate learning outcomes.
Preparing and delivering all training materials, tools, and exercises.
Producing the final report summarizing assessment findings, training outcomes, and recommendations for follow-up.
I confirm that Engy Abdalla worked as a full-time trainer for the “Women’s Leadership, Empowerment, Access & Protection in Crisis Response (LEAP III)” in Cairo. She was professional, collaborative, and demonstrated strong facilitation and communication skills.
— Sama Serag El-Din