“I have been subjected to a lot of harassment from my family and neighbors to stay away from singing and playing the oud” A relationship developed between me and singing and the oud since I was 12 years old. I loved Abdel Halim Hafez - an Egyptian singer - for his honesty and for his expression of my feelings. I loved singing with him in general, and I loved the oud because of its connection to singing. The oud and singing are my way of escaping from all my problems. I escape from all of this to my workshop - he works as a silversmith - in the Al-Hussein neighborhood in Cairo, where I have a safe haven from everything. I sit with my pigeons, whom I have raised for a long time, and sing and play with the oud. Uncle Samir, Cairo, Egypt, 2023