Sitting on a low wooden chair, Saeed Hegazy warps and wefts on a loom, duplicating a complicated motif from the drawing in front of him. This is what Hegazy has been doing for 43 years, since the age of 10, when he became a young apprentice in Egypt’s then-thriving handwoven carpets industry. Hegazy prefers the good old days, when work was hard but the cost of living was more affordable and more people bought handwoven carpets. “Everything is getting expensive compared to my income,” he complained to Al-Monitor. “Nor do I see any hope in the future regarding this craft.” Hegazy earns around 1,600 Egyptian pounds (approximately $90) a month, which is not enough, he said, to meet the needs of his five children. Despite the financial shortfall,&nb