Visit: Es-Salam-school
Happy and laughing children surrounded us and watched us curiously, when we (the couple Eveline Fiedler and Roland Müller-Fiedler) visited the “Es-Salam-School” (Peace-School), right in one of Cairo’s garbage districts: Moytamadeia. During our private holidays in Egypt in November 2019, we used the opportunity for a visit to the school and the assoiated kindergarten. Roland Müller-Fiedler is in charge of the project ‘Es-Salam-School’ within the Primavera board. Therefore, it was important for us to experience the children and the facilities on site and to gain a first hand impression of the project. We also wanted to make personal contacts with the responsible people in Cairo and to discuss Primavera’s future priorities for the procect.
We were accompanied by Mr. Tamer Magdy (RBEG/COR), who is the representative of the local Bosch organization for this project. The chairman of the NGO EDAM, which is running the school (Mr. Nabil Shehata), as well as the school’s principal (Mr. Moody Fayek) received us very warmly. Also Mrs. Ulrike Fritz vom Yalla e.V. and the German EDAM associate Mr. Sebastian Drabinski took part in the discussions. Yalla e.V. in Stuttgart is a German aid organization that has strongly supported the school for many years.
The very warm welcome of the children was overwhelming and moved us deeply. Their happiness and light heartedness in no way mirror the circumstances, in which these children grow up: Moytamadeia is one of Cairo’s many waste recycling districts. Initially set up as an illegal neighborhood, it is still on the fringes of society.
Several thousand people make their living by collecting and sorting garbage. Due to their lack of education, many families have to work as garbage collectors (‘Zabbleen’) as the only alternative to unemployment. Also, many children in Moytamadeia have to actively support their families with waste sorting.
In order to break this vicious circle of poverty, schools have an important role to play. But in Moytamadeia, education is a scarce resource. State schools and kindergartens do not exist. Therefore, private initiatives are required.
The private Es-Salam-School (Peace School) is situated like an oasis in the midst of Moytamadeia. The school was founded in 1988 on the initiative of the German nun Sister Maria Grabis. Nowadays, the Es-Salam-School is in charge of the NGO EDAM (Environmental Development Association Moytamadeia). 430 children, muslims and christians, are taught together in grades 1 through 9 to receive their Inter-mediate Baccalaureate. In the Sister-Maria-Kindergarten, children are prepared for school in two classes. In an affiliated sewing school, adolescent girls are trained by experienced women in machine sewing and embroidery, so that they can lead an independent and self-determined life.
The conduction of medical preventive checkups for children, as it is usual in Germany, is not common in Egypt. Particularly dental hygiene and eye examinations are major challenges. In cooperation with EDAM and Yalla e.V., Primavera will finance annual general medical checkups, dental examinations as well as eye tests. Furthermore, eyeglasses, toothbrushes and toothpaste will be provided for all school children.
The children, the teachers and the facilities made a deep impression on us. We are sure that our help goes to the right place. And here, much can be achieved with relatively little money.