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The first 2 years were spent just listening to the pain and troubles of the community to understand where the problems lay and to
contemplate a possible strategy to alleviate their grief. Following this, still only volunteering stage- we tried every income-generating projects we could think of. We experimented with the effectiveness of microloans to finance these project ideas such as rabbit breeding and mushroom cultivation. Unfortunately the majority of these failed mainly due to poor hygiene and the delicate care required in nurturing such projects that these people were unaware and unused to. Evidently we needed to go back a couple of steps and start from the very foundations; with health awareness and development of skills.
An in-depth survey study was undertaken in the form of a PRA (Participatory Rapid Appraisal), which revealed many stark facts and figures about the 5,000 individuals residing in Stabl Antar community. Unemployment was revealed to be as high as 34%, a simple indication to a high crime rate but more importantly provides an insight to the hopelessness of the society, especially when the young generations cannot envision a way out to escape this downward spiral into deeper poverty. A distressing demonstration of the depths of their desperation and lack of knowledge is the growing phenomenon of organ selling. For a measly 10,000 L.E some residents, usually the father as the main income earner in the family, sell their kidney to give them a lump-sum to ease troubles of today. This horrific trend is on the rise as those who have undergone the operation tell their relations how it is the easiest way to settle their debts and start afresh. Their limited knowledge and awareness does not allow them to fully comprehend the consequences and hardship that will later affect the family, be it surgery complications or increased future medical treatment expenditure as the body which is not healthy to begin with, deteriorates further.
For a typical 6 person household an average monthly income of 327 L.E is not a reliable and steady source. Life is tough. Parents sometimes resort to sending their kids to work to get extra monetary support and as a consequence forego valuable education and knowledge. Illiteracy rates in Stabl Antar were at a rocketing 95% at the time of our research in 2006 Harsh times affect the family as a whole, not only do they become unable to plan for the future since they are limited to today’s concerns, but they become hardened. They forget how to dream, how to strive for something better, how to hope for a better life for their children. Our work aims to reinstate this loss, which we feel is crucial not only to revive the community’s spirit but to aid the development of children, and thus nurture the path for the future.
Ghada Gabr
Founder of Stabl Antar Dream and board member of Sohbet Kheir.
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