by kbarsoum | Sep 4, 2012 | Approaches to Charity and Development
Brothers Nadir and Hisham endured back-to-back loss when their mother died just one year after their father passed away. They continued to live in their tiny apartment in the slums of Helwan. A kind uncle who lived in the same building did what he could for the boys,...
by kbarsoum | Aug 28, 2012 | "The Widow's Cause", Approaches to Charity and Development
Om Fady* had no savings and only six Egyptian pounds (about $1 USD) in her pocket. She was an illiterate widow living with her only son in Alexandria. What could she do with that money? For six Egyptian pounds, she could buy aish baladi for four days. Or, she could...
by kbarsoum | Aug 21, 2012 | Approaches to Charity and Development, Sponsorship
Though she had never been to southern Egypt and didn’t quite know what to expect, Basma Abdel Malek was still determined to meet her sponsored child, Manal. It was the dream visit she had been planning for a year. So last year, the 32-year-old bank employee from...
by kbarsoum | Aug 14, 2012 | "The Widow's Cause"
O my Lord, Jesus Christ, What a heart of compassion you are! You saw and felt my deep sorrow Even before me asking! All that I could do was weeping! Weeping over my beloved son! There in his shroud — carried out to be buried! — from “The Widow of Nain” by...
by kbarsoum | Aug 7, 2012 | Approaches to Charity and Development
Sometimes, innocent drawings are windows to tragedy. When Heba* started drawing and her Coptic Orphans Rep asked the right questions, a horrifying event unfolded. The ancient African practice of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, (FGM/C) known in Egypt as “female...
