Report from BHW Egypt Partnership Facilitator

I visited for two days in April. On Friday 20th I visited with four friends from Shared Hope, Scotland. We spent a few hours talking with S and P about their work with the community on Rubbish Mountain. Unfortunately there was a funeral at a local church that S and P had to attend. We were also expecting to have a doctor come in the afternoon but he too had to attend the funeral so the programme was somewhat shortened. We were able to see the end of the children's gathering, to talk to S and P and to visit one of the homes nearby.  

A lot of the children were not around. Another group from Germany was running a weekend event for children and some of them had been selected to attend the camp.  

Two days later on Sunday 22nd I visited with S and P on my own and spent about three hours discussing the future of the work. They stressed that the development of the spiritual work is what drives them and they are very passionate about that. They see this as a calling from God and they will continue to do it as long as they sense this call. 

In terms of the past three years they are very thankful for the assistance and there has been a lot of change in the community. The vision of their father is alive and well and now they are dealing with the children of those who first came to this place.  

Recent Events

Activities

Virtually every week they have different teams come to the church to help them with the programme. They bring music, a team for visiting and a preacher to talk to the Christians. This has taken a huge load off them, especially S. 

They run a children’s programme (Sunday School) every Friday and have around 150 children attending every week. Every week each child is given a sachet of milk to supplement their nutrition. 

One other day a week they run a programme for women, helping them to run their homes and families. They also talk about personal hygiene and bringing up children. This has been a great boost to the women. They then go out visiting homes and sharing and counselling the families they meet. 

The clinic is operating most days with a nurse and usually on Fridays they have a doctor there to deal with patients. Sometimes a specialist comes to. 

It’s a three day a week investment S and P are making and they have full time jobs as well. 

Personal Stories

There was not sufficient time to get any stories on this trip. However, the number of people involved at the centre, the clinic, youth and children’s programmes and church is constantly increasing. Those who come regularly are very encouraged by the holistic care they receive. At the one home visited that was very evident. There was a small amount of income supplement as the husband had been killed. There had been medical help and healing from a very aggressive cancer. The woman was very moved and in tears while telling her story. 

Partnership's Influence within the Community

Again, we were not there long enough to be able to get much of an impression about this. However, the increasing numbers of people involved tells something of the story. The facility is in regular use and young people and children are always there playing on the equipment and enjoying a safe place. 

The community is developing rapidly and has become a real town. Water has come and many new permanent buildings are being erected. The smell is noticeably less potent and there are fewer flies, although it was not the worst time of year to be there. 

The Coptic church is building a huge facility and spending large amounts of money on the building. The local people are pretty surprised at the amount of money being spent, or more so, the small amount of assistance available to people in proportion to the amount being spent on the building. They often comment about the very different approach of S and P. The other side of that coin is that their building is now bursting at the seams and pretty run down. 

Plans for the Future

BHW has been partnering here for three years and the last payment has been made so it was time to revisit the project and plan a way forward, if indeed there was a way. We therefore spent time identifying the way forward and the various components of the programme. These include:

a) Children's programme. This includes giving a gift to the people who come to run the Friday evening church meeting.
b) Emergencies which includes accidents, sickness, operations, and repairs and maintenance on some of their horse carts.
c) Milk for all the children every week
d) Outings for the children from time to time
e) Widow support. Some are not widows but their husbands are sick or violent. There are 17, some Muslim and some Christian.
f) Some children to school. There are three Muslim children and three Christian children in this programme. They are bright children who would never be able to go to school without some assistance. 

We spent time putting amounts against the proposed aspects of the project for the next three years and the current budget is about right so I propose that we continue this at the same amount. 

Current Issues and Challenges

This is still a very needy community. Even though there is development, many are caught in chronic poverty at the bottom of the heap. This requires a lot of “coming alongside” from S and P. 

As S and P’s children get older, it is increasingly difficult for the kids to go with them.

Prayer and Praise Points

The spiritual work is developing stronger believers. The church is growing as more and more young people understand the meaning of the gospel. 

Comments

I am totally impressed by the commitment of S and P. They are an outstanding couple and ideal partners. I would support the proposal that we continue this for another three years at least and then review it. 

The regular funding has taken so much pressure off them and makes it sustainable for them to continue. Since the fall in the economy all other local sources of funding have dried up. They would not be able to do what they are doing from their own resources. It would be impossible now with the current economic situation. 

Their dream is to make a pathway out of the mountain and give the children a life outside the place.