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We met at Hope Evangelical Church and had a great visit with a few of the staff. The Al Amal community is in a poor part of Cairo, about 2.5m in the community and rather crowded, with Sudanese and Syrian refugees, along with Egyptians.
Since receiving the funds, they have completed the development of the project and commenced operation. They opened in October; however, most people had already signed their children to other kindergartens by then as day care programs usually start in September. They are not concerned as slow growth this year gives them time to find their way and not out stretch their capacity.
Currently they have 14 children, five of those have developmental disabilities, with the capacity for 80 children in total.
The environment seems very positive. Each child with developmental disabilities has a volunteer that stays with them throughout the day, and they have a sensory room that helps kids with disabilities learn how to communicate. The special needs sensory room and day care facility is the only one in the community.
Dr M is the woman who oversees the centre, consults and gives therapy. She has a doctorate in child psychiatry and development. She met Pastor A about two years ago and wanted to become involved. She feels a calling to this. She comes twice a week as a volunteer to give therapy to the kids and help them communicate.
She works with an organisation called ZOE and partners with a South African guy. She charges for her services when she can to make a living for herself. If she doesn’t have funds to cover costs, she pays for them herself and if she is still short then the South African guy underwrites it.
The building for the kindergarten is basically done, but they have requested US$3,000 more to get AC. The AC units were more expensive than they thought but it is currently winter, so they are cheaper right now.
They want to set up a coffee shop and playground on the top floor: a playground for the kindergarten, and a coffee shop for teenagers in the community to give them a positive place to stay and study, instead of being on the streets as there is a lot of drugs and other influences.
1) That they can get the air conditioners in before summer – February
2) That they would be protected from radicals
3) That the children would get real help from being in the special classes
4) That the children would grow in their understanding of Christian faith and trust in Jesus
5) That during the year their numbers would increase to enable them to cover their costs