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With a population of around 110 million, Egypt is teaming with people. It is however mostly desert and 95 per cent of the population live in just five percent of its land area; the fertile banks of the River Nile. In Spring of this year I stood by the shores of Lake Victoria, Uganda, where this great river rises. This week I find myself 2500 away in Cairo, close to where it flows into the Mediterranean. Between Uganda and Egypt the Nile passes through Sudan. It is from here that the river crosses into Egypt; already a mighty body of water.
In recent years there has been another mighty river flowing into Egypt, not of water, but millions of human beings who are fleeing the bloody, and often under-reported, civil war being waged within the borders of its southern neighbour. Estimates are that Egypt is currently hosting around 9 million refugees from Sudan.
I am here as one of a team of four people, representing Drumbeg Church in partnership with the Diocese of Egypt. During this week we are looking to serve members of the Sudanese community in Cairo, at St Raphael School.
Situated in an economically challenged area in this vast city of 22.5 million people, this facility provides education to children and young people displaced here as a consequence of the violence in the land of their birth. Currently there are just over 200 students aged from 4 to 18. Both Christian and Muslim families are represented. The neighbourhood surrounding the school has both an Egyptian and migrant population. There are significant issues with drugs, prostitution and gangs. The deprivation is palpable. The aim of the school is to provide an education in keeping with the Sudanese curriculum and to instil some hope for the future among its students.
Find below a few images which seek to illustrate what we have done so far, and the general context within which we are working. Please hold us in your thoughts and prayers in the coming days.
Students hard at work in an art and craft class. The finished product!
View from the door if St. Raphael School
One of Cairo's many minarets and a reminder that Cairo has one of the longest traditions of Christianity in the world..the famous Hanging Church in Old Cairo.
As we approach Christmas a reminder that The Holy Family spent time in Egypt having fled Herod's massacre of Hebrew children.
And... for those who have never been to Cairo an example of what a journey through the poorer areas of this city feels like. This community of 100,000 live entirely from the proceeds of recycled rubbish. The live in "Garbage City" and worship in the famous cave churches carved out of rock high above their neighbourhood.
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