My First day in Alwan&Awtar

In 1992, Cairo inhabitants faced a devastating earthquake that shook Egypt. lots of people lost their shanty homes along with their meager possessions, among those were the Inhabitants of ElHadaba ElWosta in Mokattam hills. After losing their homes and possessions amid the earthquake, the government provided them with flats in the earthquake buildings (masaken elzelzal) in Mokattam in return for a reduced price. However, the inhabitants of those buildings still suffer from harsh living conditions such as high rates of unemployment, poor access to education and health services. Children and youth are among the sufferers since they many of them are deprived from education due to the poor economic conditions; even those who have the privilege of going to schools suffer from low quality of education and outdated education methods that don't contribute to developing the skills and potentials of the child.

In this regard, Alwan and Awtar (A&A) non-profit organization was established in 2005 in the heart of Mokattam near masaken elzelzal (the earthquake buildings) where it serves the marginalized children and youths living in the surrounding area. A&A has a mission of creating a unique haven where impoverished youth can nurture their artistic senses and experience self discovery through visual and performing arts in a professional, yet flexible and enjoyable environment. Its vision is to enable a body of inspired youth to think creatively and see beauty in their surroundings which in turn will enrich their lives. Through A&A marginalized children and youths get access to workshops in a variety of artistic and creative field including Drawing, photography, music, story telling, Drama, handcrafts and others. These workshops are conducted by professional volunteers who believe in the power of arts as an agent for development and social change. The workshops are also supplemented with field visits to arts, galleries and other cultural events to richen their experience and enhance their understanding and appreciation of arts.

Previous projects of A&A included

• "Theatre for oppressed" in partnership with save the children (USA) and Naseej. This project aimed at imparting theatre based methodologies to youth and kids, as a means of self expression and self development.

• "Encouraging Youth participation in the community" in partnership with Coptic Evangelic Organisation for Social Services (CEOSS). This project offered youths a series of workshops that aimed at embedding in them a sense of tolerance and citizenship

• "ME Book" in partnership with the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA). This project aimed at supporting the children to set goals and find purpose in their lives. ME Book is a book that takes the children on a journey of self discovery. A journey during which children think about themselves and their living environment.

On the 31^st September 2009, I went to visit A&A to check their activities and their internship opportunities based on a recommendation of one of my friends. I went to their office in Mokattam and as soon as I went in, I felt amazed by the vibrant environment inside the place. Children were moving all around the place. Some were sitting on the table in the middle with their teacher doing pottery; others were sitting in the corner reading some books. I could also hear music playing from the room on the other side. The way the kids looked had a profound effect on me, they were really happy and enjoying their time and it looked to me as if this place actually turned out of be their haven from the outside world. I sat with Azza Kamel, the director, and she told me all about the history of the place and its achievements. It was really interesting how in such a small period, they were able to do all these projects and reach out to a large number of children and youths.

In Our talk together, I told her about my previous experience in facilitating creative writing workshops with children laborers through SCREAM project (supporting child rights through education, arts and media). In these workshops, children learnt about how to be imaginative and how to communicate their imaginations and their personal experiences through writing short stories and poetries. I told her about how those workshops had a very profound effect on children as writing was a way of expression that helped them to communicate to others their feelings, experiences and dreams. Azza liked the idea and we agreed together to start planning and setting a curriculum for the workshops and conducting a test session. She told me how interested children will be towards creative writing as she has many children in the organization who love writing stories and songs. As a good coincidence also, two of those children were already there and they came to us while we were talking to narrate to us the story they have just written. It was about a cat who lost its way and then grabbed by a kind man. It was a very nice story. They also wrote and composed two songs which they sang to us. As soon as they finished we applauded strongly to them and I was really happy to see such talented kids. I told them about the creative writing workshops we are planning to start soon and they were very interested.

We also talked about the fundraising plans and schemes of the organization and the director told me of their plan to shift their focus in the near future to the private sector. We agreed also that I'll be working on providing them with fundraising sources and contacts as I have been working in that field before.

At last, I have to mention that I feel very proud when I come across an organization like A&A that brings together the promising youths and adults of Egypt that share the same goal together, to make a difference.