Helmy Abouleish, CEO of Sekem: For a special Ramadan edition of our weekly My Morning Routine column, which we are running through the holy month, we spoke to Sekem CEO Helmy Abouleish (LinkedIn). We asked Abouleish the usual questions to find out how a successful member of the community starts their day, and threw in a few more to find out how he adjusts to Ramadan and what he looks forward to in the holy month. Edited excerpts from our conversation:

I’m Helmy Abouleish, and I’ve been working as a farmer from Sharqia for 49 years to establish Sekem as a model for system change in Egypt and the world. My task is really to keep the whole Sekem initiative aligned to make sure that we are really working towards what we call our vision for Egypt 2057.

Ramadan is a wonderful time of the year because it gives us a chance to really reconnect with ourselves, our spiritual sources, our inner call, our outer call, and to review things.

I’m fortunate because in Ramadan I wake up as early as I always do as a farmer. I wake up at 5:30am, and it’s then that I have time to really reconnect with myself, do some mindfulness exercises, try to listen, and try to reflect on what I’m doing and what I’m going to do. This part of the day is very valuable to me as it prepares me very nicely for the day.

Days are often hectic, but I try to always remind myself that everyone faces the same stress. While in the afternoon, I take walks through our gardens and forests, I listen to the birds and other animals — we have many animals — and smell and look at the plants. I walk my 10k steps per day, which I do for my own health but also to stay connected to nature.

I love that Iftar is a chance to really connect with my family — not only my physical family, but also the Sekem family. Alongside connecting with my mother, daughters, and grandchildren, I’m also using iftars to connect with the Sekem community, the Sekem farm, students at our university, our farmers all over Egypt, our co-workers in all the companies, salespeople selling from Aswan to Alexandria, and, of course, to academics and the staff at Heliopolis University.

One constant in my day is being grateful for what I can do, being grateful that I can serve at this time and place, seeing that I can make a difference and an impact. Having reached out to 40k farmers over the last few years, along with the goal of expanding that impact to 250k in the next few years, is a huge source of inspiration, motivation, power, and energy for me.

For me, my work isn’t just my hobby — it’s something I’m in love with. Of course, I love to also take my family on vacation or play football every Friday afternoon with the Sekem community, but I’m lucky that my work is what I love to do.

The most significant trend I see in the industry is international organizations starting to understand that organic agriculture and food are neither more expensive nor exclusive for the elite. But instead, they are the more cost-effective, productive, and efficient solution for the major ecological, health, and social challenges we face. The reality is that organic food is much cheaper if you consider the impact, like the externalized costs on health, ecology, and social development.

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