Egypt, Middle East
View report dated: March 22, 2016
View report dated: November 20, 2017
View report dated: May 5, 2018
View report dated: August 27, 2020
View report dated: May 5, 2021
View report dated: February 15, 2022
View report dated: November 30, 2022
View report dated: April 4, 2024
Report Date: April 4, 2026
A team from BHW was in Cairo for a week in November 2025.
Context
The Egyptian economy continues to be under strain. There are both internal and external forces at play. Internally the government is spending huge amounts of money on developing infrastructure, building whole new cities to house the rapidly expanding population. Externally, the war in Ukraine and the tensions to the north are severely affecting them, especially in the tourism sector. They are hoping the newly opened museum will reinvigorate their tourism numbers.
There is less and less rubbish available for collection as the government is attempting to improve recycling. With the contracting economy, less waste is being produced, people are more careful and hold on to things for longer.
Activities
Every week on a Friday S and P go out to Helwan to their parent’s place, they live about 20 minutes away. They cannot gather the people as a group, but many of them come to their parent's house to visit.
They also go and visit people they are in touch with in the 30 families. Some are living in the community in rented houses and others are in the new accommodation built by the government. These people have many issues. Because they do not make much money from scavenging, they often get behind in utility payments, expenses for their children and with the many illnesses they get. Because of their work and exposure to all the rubbish and because they do not eat well, they are very vulnerable to illness. Their immune systems are severely compromised.
Despite that they cannot all meet, they spend a lot of time praying with people and encouraging them. They notice that people are generally more willing to be prayed for and to bring their problems to God.
The biggest areas of pressure on families are food and groceries, medicine and education.
One church was willing to let them use their facility, see the previous report. However, the church then decided to rebuild their building so they cannot use it until it is completed which could take a long time in the present economic environment. They are very disappointed.
We did not get to hear the stories of the women who came to visit the parent’s house while we were there although the ladies were able to greet them and pray for them, but we heard some of the issues they face.
One woman’s husband went to Libya to find work. When he was there, he was arrested and they had to pay money to get him back. He was away for months and the family needed support.
Another woman’s young son was killed when a truck hit him on the autostrada, the freeway. He stepped back while loading his cart and was clipped by the truck. The family had no money to bury him, and the woman was grief stricken.
The circumstances these people live in are terrible. The amount of tragedy, trauma and grief is huge and can be seen in their sad, tired eyes. Many are sick constantly from poor nutrition and disease from handling the rubbish.
This is so hard to assess. For the 30 families being assisted this is a lifeline but it does not help them become any more self-sustaining or to move out of poverty. It is very hard to know what can be done to help this happen more effectively.
The women who come are so appreciative of the assistance and constantly thank the team. But they also need a lot more help than they are able to give. These people are the poorest of the poor and their children are growing up in the same way.
Despite S and P’s desire to help and that of the parents, this will never be able to help beyond the day to day support the people get.
Most of these women also attend the programme run by Mrs M (EGY02a) so they get some input and help from there as well. But that is very small and again, does not address the issue of sustainability. None of the key family has the capacity to address this.
S and P used to visit a town called Arab El Staf with a group of people from their church (referred to in the previous report). However, there is no church building in the town, so they cannot have a pastor there and their church has decided to stop going to help. S, and particularly P, are very disappointed as they were developing some good relationships. The key woman, reported on last time, is a single mother with traumatised children and a drunken husband. They are trying to help her and a group of people they have met through their short involvement.
There are six people they want to help, but it is very expensive as most of them are people who once had good jobs and prospects and now are destitute. They help them from time to time from their own money, but there is just so much need and it would cost around US$6k/year to do this which I do not think is viable.
- The high cost of living for everyone, but especially for the people they are ministering to
- For endurance, this is hard work and emotionally draining for all involved
- For the external issues to be resolved resulting in less economic pressures
1) S and P, with their parents, are still able to assist many - emotionally, physically, relationally and spiritually
2) That they are getting more opportunities to pray and encourage the people
3) That they are able to visit many of their people in their homes
4) Pray for ongoing wisdom as costs continue to spiral
As we have said previously, these are such good people but there is no real chance of them moving into loans or empowerment. There are just so few opportunities and they do not have the capacity or vision to shift.
They could use as much money as we send them frankly. However, I do not think it is warranted. There is virtually no hope of these people moving into self-sustainability mode. The only hope is that some of the children make it.
As I say above, the new opportunity is just too expensive.
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