Report by BHW Egypt Partnership Facilitator Following Visit 

The BHW New Partnership Facilitators and Middle East Facilitator along with four people from Shared Hope, a UK based donor, visited on Friday 30th October. We began by meeting S and P on the highway above the old Rubbish City location in 15th May City. It was the first time we had been there since the floods in 2020 that devastated the place. The place was a mess before the flood, it is still a mess and looking across the ruins it is plain to see the terrible consequences of the flood. 

Recent Events

Activities

There is quite a bit of activity still even though no one is supposed to be there. People are still using it to sort rubbish, and some are even living back there as they have no alternative. 

Away in the distance on a plateau there was a whole housing development, several towers of apartments. After leaving the extreme heat of the road we drove over to have a look. It was an amazing set up, with no-one living in it. Hundreds of apartments empty. No one knows how to get access to them. There are rumours around but nothing definite. Some say they are free, some say there is rent to pay, some say it is rent to buy. But speculators are buying them and the people who they were built for will never move in. These buildings have been sitting empty for 18 months already. However, there is a problem as the floor space in each apartment is only 45m2, far too small for the large families. 

We had a look around for a few minutes and then drove back to P’s parent’s home. We spent the next 3–4 hours chatting with them and listening to their story. During that time three of the families they work with came to visit and we were able to listen to their stories. Pretty sad stuff, poverty steals so much from people. 

Personal Stories

Om K and her husband are very vulnerable. They have just had a fourth baby, a girl after three boys. Her husband has a tricycle and brings the widows to S and P when they need a lift. He brought two widows to visit us. While they were with us, they took school bags for their children and for two other widows.  

N and her husband A have three children (photo below). They helped S and P when they shifted the container. One of their children is just a baby.   

Some other widows came to see us:

Om R has six children. She lost one of her children last year. 

Om J has three daughters, the oldest one is 9 years old. She lost her husband to Covid last year.

Om M has three children, the eldest one is 18 years old. Her husband died ten years ago.

Om Y and her husband have two girls and one boy. She took bags for her kids and for another family, and groceries for another family.

S and his wife came too. They have five boys and one girl. She is the only one at school and S and P help her a lot.

All of those who came also took money to buy books for school.

Current Issues and Challenges

A lot has changed since the flood and Covid. And now the war in Ukraine is adding to the woes of the country as raw materials are becoming scarce and the huge influx of tourists from Ukraine and Russia no longer come, crippling the already struggling tourist economy.   

The biggest impact on them is that many people who once had jobs now have no job security. This is compounded by the of halving the value of the Egyptian Pound some years ago which virtually stopped local giving. What was left has entirely stopped now. 

The people they once served are now scattered around several communities, so it is very hard to go to them. Since the flood they have been trying to find a place to meet. The only church near enough allowed them to put their rescued medical container on site for storage. Then, they agreed that they could use the church building to gather the people. However, a short time before we got there the church had received permission to build a permanent building, so again, they do not have a place to meet for up to another two years. 

The Future

S and P are both unsure about the future and whether it is best to continue what they are currently doing. They feel like all they are doing is handing out money like an ATM. They cannot meet with the people, gather them together, or even help them with their costs, e.g., S used to do blood pressure and blood sugar tests for free and supply them with cheap/free medicine, now they must pay for everything. For now, they will carry on but are praying for guidance in this. They tried to get the people to join the Bible study that P’s mother and father organise, but these people live a long way from where that group meets and cannot get there regularly. So that plan didn't eventuate.

Currently I would recommend that we need to hang in there until a clearer picture emerges for them. They live in Maadi which is halfway back to Cairo and their parent’s house is the base for distributions. It has given them more time at the weekends for their own children which is a good thing, they need it as young teenagers. But they are living in limbo, not sure what to do. 

There is plenty here to pray about.