Visit to the Nile River School

On Sunday 2nd September, the volunteers selected for the project in Baharwa, near Ayaat, went on a field visit to the village in order to meet the children and the families.

The project, designed in collaboration with the Nile River School, slightly differs from the Education and Integration program in the other schools. While the volunteers usually assit a teacher in a classroom, the volunteers in Baharwa will conduct one-to-one lessons with some selected children in order to decrease illiteracy and support their education.

The focus will be on Arabic and mathematics, with a more personal approach allowing the children to quickly catch up with their studies.

The volunteers will start their tutoring next week. The visit allowed them to get to know the kids and share funny moments before starting the actual learning process.

Salma Badawy, volunteer at Baharwa, shared her thoughts on the day with us:

Lively and bright smiles, that is what was drawn on the faces of the children in Ayaat. When we arrived to the Nile River School with my colleagues from Sting, we were warmly welcomed by Didi, a beautiful soul who devotes herself to leaving an impact on others' lives.

Everything is green in Didi’s house. The place is a safe haven bordering the Nile, cut off from the outside world. Kids were knocking excitedly against the door to enter. Didi really has a strong discipline with them. She was checking everyone's nails, clothes and appearance, as she taught them about hygiene and a good presentation of yourself.

We had a meeting with her and she told us about how her life in Egypt, and especially in this remote rural village, has been in the past seven years. She told us that the beginning was tough, but later the families were very excited to send their children to her nursery, that they wanted a better education for their kids, as they themselves did not have the chance to go to school.

Moreover, we had time to get to know the kids, they were shy at first, but after playing some ice-breaking games, they started to be more familiar with us. We held a talent show and the kids demonstrated us marvellous and outstanding singing and acrobatic performances.

After some time with each one of our students, we went to visit the families’ houses, where most of our tutoring will take place. The parents were very welcoming and hopeful. Mothers , especially, were truly excited to see us, “the volunteers”, the ones who help their kids with their studies.

Finally, I am so thrilled about this learning journey. Kids are so smart and very similar to Didi's garden: they are different, ambitious, energetic and lively. Didi has started a great project at the Nile River School, with effective outcomes. Our duty is to make it blossom and to keep on impacting those children’s lives.