Meet the Egyptian food vendor who carries his restaurant around town

Egyptian graduate Emad Hamdi wakes up every morning, fills up his LPG cylinder, carries his grill on his shoulders, and walks through the streets of Alexandria looking for customers to buy sandwiches that he prepares on the spot.

The 21-year-old's mobile restaurant - dubbed "The Grill" - is his sole source of income, used to support his widowed mother, as well as help his three older sisters.

"I wanted to get a small food truck, but I couldn't afford it because of the licensing costs and things like that," said Hamdi, who graduated from technical school in 2019 but couldn't find a job.

Born in a modest neighborhood in Egypt's second largest city of Alexandria, Hamdi has been helping support his family since he was in elementary school.

Looking for innovative ways to make money, Hamdi adopted the "mobile restaurant" idea from the internet, initially invented by four young men who quickly abandoned the endeavor.

At first, the equipment was heavy and difficult to move with, said Hamid, but it became easier to lift with time.

His message to Egypt's youth is to try new ways to find work, and not surrender to the country's unemployment challenges.

"It doesn't need to be like that," said Hamdi. "We have to try and work, in order to develop ourselves."

Hamdi grills sausage and burger sandwiches for 5-10 EGP ($0.32-0.64) each, and hopes to open up his own proper restaurant one day.

Egypt's unemployment rate stood at 7.3 percent of the total labor force during the second quarter of 2021, according to the official statistics agency CAPMAS, but joblessness among the country's youth remains at critical levels.