Ana Al-Misri, or I the Egyptian, is an organization that takes care of children ages 2-16 that would otherwise live on the street. They come in with various backgrounds and needs, and it is up to the very capable staff of Ana Al-Misri to work with these children at a personal level, address their needs, and prepare them for a successful future.
The children have varying backgrounds, so the staff put the children into different categories when they are first interviewed to join the program. Stage 1 the lowest level, where children are behind in their education if it exists at all and may suffer from physical and psychological maladies that are a result of their life on the streets of Cairo. Though they often do not encounter problems like gun violence and drug use that are found in most other countries, these children sadly often have a background of neglect and abuse that leaves them emotionally damaged and with trust issues. Stage 2 children are more adapted to society and are current with their education. They are your average curious, energetic, and joyful kids. The last stage is where they are prepared with enough skills to live on their own, the goal of Ana Al-Misri.
Ana Al-Misri looks at three different levels of society when trying to help and understand the children. At the first level they look at a child’s personal development both emotionally and physically. The second level contains the children’s immediate culture and environment and tries to understand how the child fits into these social structures. The third level focuses on how the children fit into a global society at a macro level.
AWTAD was our second stop, an organization which focuses on a wide variety of cultural needs. Their main focus is on the mentoring of women entrepreneurs, fostering self confidence and facilitating the implementation of their business plans. One facet of this is entitled Anamel Misria, "Egyptian Fingers," which focuses on training artisans so that they can use their trade as a reliable source of income.
AWTAD is also acting to promote women's health within Egypt. They began by attempting to spread awareness about breast cancer, but ran into cultural issues and had trouble garnering public support. But they switched their focus to women's health in general, and work to spread awareness of basic health issues and disease prevention measures.
The friendly and engaging staff plan to give volunteers a lot of freedom with their responsibilities, so we will be able to choose our own ways of contributing. AWTAD seems to have a far-reaching influence in a variety of areas, so volunteers will be able to work directly within a specific branch, or work in a more administrative position as they brainstorm ideas.
The last of stop on today's orientation marathon was Al-Kayan, a center that works with disabled children in Cairo. In addition to running after school programs and daytime programs, the center also works to change the image of the disabled in Cairo to a more positive one. Although we were exhausted by the time we arrived, we were all impressed by the clarity of their presentation.
Our responsibility at Al-Kayan for the summer is two-fold: to increase the size of their English network, including updating their website with English articles and links and contact similar NGOs in Europe and America, and to teach their staff English. The Al-Kayan directors outlined these expectations clearly, including specific suggestions on vocabulary selections and a comprehensive schedule.
By the end of Al-Kayan's presentation, we were left with very few questions, and we paused only to take a brief tour of the facility and some group pictures before heading back to Garden City to relax.
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