Report by BHW Egypt Partnership Facilitator Following Visit 

Recent Events

The staggering cost of rising prices has severely affected people. Prices have doubled. There is more pressure on families to the point where less rubbish is available. People are just not throwing out things they would have previously, leaving less rubbish for the people of rubbish mountain to collect. 

The government has started major recycling plants and this has also had the effect of reducing the amount of rubbish available. The people in rubbish mountain are significantly worse off than before. 

Sunday school continues to attract 70–90 children every Friday. It is chaos as many of the children have never been to school so are not used to being in a classroom or constrained in any way. The boys especially can be very disruptive. Scuffles and shouting erupt regularly during the programme. Young people from the church in town come to help S and P with the programme. 

Evening church continues to grow with well over 200 people now attending. They are growing and developing in faith. S and P are very encouraged. 

I visited for two days in October 2017. A team from a Cairo church visited the same day. It was led by a heart specialist who consulted with about 20 patients. While he was doing that teams were out visiting people and encouraging them. Then in the evening they ran a childrens programme and led the church in worship. This happens from time to time with different churches and groups coming to help with the ministry. 

The local evangelical Christians want a better church building largely prompted by the huge amounts of money being spent by the Coptic church on their building. However S is adamant that this will not happen and that he wants to invest in the people. Some work will need to be done to the building at some stage tho as it is pretty rickety. 

Personal Stories

Lots of children and young people come into the yard to hang out and play whenever they can to escape the drudgery. They kick a football around, play on the equipment, play marbles and the young guys try to look staunch! Sometimes they bring in a small pool so the kids can swim. It is a haven in the midst of the filth and dirt. 

R is still in college and doing OK despite her mother trying to get the money from her. She is the first child from the community to go to college. She is studying philosophy and doing very well. She is in her second year of four at Helwan University.

A is a local girl who is now a nurse, works in the project and gets a small income from it. She is engaged to be married. Her parents take all her money and she is not allowed to use any of it for herself. She is also not allowed to suggest anything for her wedding, the parents are handling everything. 

They have set up a scholarship for six clever students. Three are Christian and three are Muslim. EGP200/month per student is being used for this. It was inspired by a mother who has four very clever girls and one son. The husband has mental health issues and cannot work. He is violent and unstable. The mother has sent three of the girls to a Christian orphanage three hours from home but cannot afford to go visit them. They are trying to see what they can do to help. 

Partnership's Influence within the Community

There is great goodwill in the community and they are thinking about some new components to the programme:
1) a small animal project for vulnerable families; goats, pigs, ducks and chickens, and donkeys and carts. This is to assist families to become self-sustaining. However, the reduced amount of edible rubbish is an issue.
2) a discipleship programme for young people to build deeper relationships; Bible study, leadership training, school materials, competitions, camps etc. 

However, they do also face opposition. 

They have recently introduced counselling and prayer, mainly for women. They bring women in to talk to the ladies about family life, support, trauma and other issues. Women come from all backgrounds. This includes inner healing, dealing with abuse, their negative and critical attitudes. The women carry the families and many of them are widows. Through this they focus on about 40 families of the 150 families they are working with. 

Plans for the Future

They continue to deliver assistance at many levels to the community. They did not do all the development on the property that was budgeted for this year and spent more on medical interventions and medication because of the economic situation. This is not likely to change in the near future.

On the basis of this the budget will remain the same for 2018. At present facility development is not a priority so we will allow them to use the funds as they need and then reassess the situation in another year. 

Current Issues and Challenges

The economic situation in Egypt is very difficult. Overnight prices were doubled and costs have continued to rise. This has meant that they have lost all their local donors. People who were donors are now struggling to put food on their tables. Some items, especially in the medical sector, have tripled in price so the clinic has suffered. 

Security is a real issue and Muslim people are not allowed inside the compound. There are extremists all around and they have to remain vigilant. 

People live in very rough conditions and fight every day to survive. These circumstances produce mindsets that are very difficult to break through. 

It is obvious from being there that there is a great deal of chronic illness. Many are Hep C+ and it shows in the tiredness in their eyes and bodies. This makes the spiritual aspect of the work so much more valuable and important. 

They still have major issues with parents, especially mothers, in regards to education. They want the girls out of school and either working or married to reduce costs. 

There is a constant war going on in Egypt. One night while I was there 14 people were killed in an ambush in Giza. An emergency call was made and police and army went to help and they were slaughtered. S was really affected by it as he is in the army as a vet. 

Prayer and Praise Points

1) The partnership with BHW has been a major blessing. The exchange rate has meant that they have been able to continue delivering their programmes largely unaffected by the rapidly increasing prices for which they are very grateful. 

2) One guy who was very difficult and hooked on shisha has been healed, delivered and totally transformed. 

Comments

This is a great partnership fulfilling all the things we are looking for in a partnership. Committed leaders, desperate poverty and a commitment to spiritual growth. The down side is the lack of opportunity for development. As well as this they are so busy doing the ministry that they do not have time to spend on strategy. They need a team around them but apart from a few volunteers, they have little time to work on strategy. I think the impact of the work could be really enhanced, but they are doing what they can. Ideas to help families become self-sustaining are beginning to emerge and be talked about. It is encouraging.