Partnership Overview

There are tens of thousands of refugees in Cairo. They come from around the Middle East and Sudan. From his wide network of contacts, NB has come across many groups of newly arrived refugees. Mainly they are referred to him by churches who have neither the capacity to approach them or the resources to help them. There is a great deal of fear about approaching people from another faith as they could be accused of proselytising them which is illegal. 

Currently NB regularly meets with a group of refugees from Syria and Sudan. They are Muslim families that have no one to turn to on arrival in Egypt. They are hated by the locals and many are learning about the Christian faith from him. One group in particular he has been meeting with for a number of years and they have introduced him to hundreds of refugee families. 

He funds this from any resources he can scrape together. He has had no partners to help and is struggling to be consistent with the monthly meetings, support and family counselling.  

History of Partnership

BHW's Executive Chairman met NB a number of years ago and continued to follow his ministry. In December 2014 BHW's New Partnership Facilitator visited Egypt and spent time with N and S to research opportunities for partnership. Following this visit, in early 2015 BHW commenced partnership with the Vocational Training Centre (EGY01). 

On subsequent visits to Egypt over the intervening years NB would talk to BHW team members about his work amongst these refugees and in late 2019 we commenced providing financial support for this aspect of his ministry.  

Beneficiaries

The beneficiaries here are the refugee families that NB assists. These families arrive in Cairo with no contacts or resources. They are not registered with the UN so there is no official help for them. They have no papers, their children cannot attend school and they are not allowed to work. They eke out a living and barely survive at the bottom of society. 

Local people hate them as they take jobs from the locals. If they can get a job they are paid low wages because they cannot ask for anything and there are many others who will work for less. 

Their children are often hungry and unwell in the harsh conditions. It is not difficult to find 6-8 people living in a small room. 

About 60 refugee families will be assisted at any one time. The cost is relatively high per family as many need to purchase basic household items and re-establish themselves. There are usually 6-8 people in these refugee families.  

What We Like About The Partnership

NB has already commenced working with these people and will continue to do so even if we do not become involved.
He has good networks in place and a clear plan for helping.
We trust him as we know him very well for many years.
The people he is assisting are the type of people we really want to assist. 

Key People

Leadership Profile

NB is a long term partner of BHW. He is married to SB and they have three children. 

NB and SB work together in Christian ministry and from their work have a huge network of people. They are well respected in the community among Christians and Muslims because of what they do and their attitude to all people. They attend Nasr City Community Church whom they also introduced to us. 

We have been to their home on many occasions and they have become great friends and partners. 

Other People Involved

They have a team of volunteers who assist when required. 

Vision And Annual Strategy

Vision 

To help refugee families re-establish their lives in Egypt. 

Strategy

They meet with the families in a large group at monthly meetings. At each gathering they spend time in the group talking about life, faith and things they need to know as they settle in their new country. Each family attending the meeting is interviewed and their needs and circumstances assessed. As they are able, they then go to the places they live to make sure they are genuine. 

They counsel the family members and assist them to connect with the right organisations to obtain papers and join the mainstream of society. They provide food supplements and funds to help with medical situations. They help with rent and for basic set up of their houses. Each case is different. 

The purpose is to assist the families to become stable as quickly as possible so they can gain some degree of control of their circumstances. The families will eventually become self-sustaining, but it is a long journey to getting an education and reasonable employment and income.