A cornerstone of Islam, charity takes on special importance during the holy month. But, as Ahram Online discovers, economic hardships are taking their toll on revolutionary Egypt's charitable organisations The sight of youth packing and distributing meals on the streets at the Maghrib (sunset) prayers or Iftar (fast-breaking time) marks one distinct characteristic of the holy month of Ramadan. For six years now, Mohamed Khaled and his friends pack ready- made meals and distribute them to the needy as well as giving water and dates to late runners who are on the streets at Iftar time. Charity is a cornerstone of Islam, and takes on a special importance in Ramadan. According to a study conducted among 767 Egyptians across the country by Visa, the payment card company, over half of the Egyptians spend more money during the month of Ramadan than any other month of the year. The biggest expenses during the holy month were groceries followed by charity. Charitable activities have become more significant in recent years because of rising media campaigns by prominent charity organisations. There are two types of charity in Islam: zakat, which is obligatory, and sadaqa, which is optional. There is also a special kind of zakat, called Zakat Al-Fitr, which has to be given out before the end of Ramadan. This year, Al-Azhar fixed a minimum of between LE6 to LE10 per person for Zakat Al-Fitr, making it affordable to all. Egyptians' charity activities in Ramadan are usually focused on giving to those stricken by poverty and hunger where they mostly give their charity in the form of money and food donations. But because of the events of the 25 January Revolution and the Egypt's subsequent economic conditions and soaring food prices, people are giving out far less money this year. Khaled explained to Ahram Online that donations in 2011 have fallen markedly in comparison to last year. Every year, Khaled and his friends receive cash as well as in-kind donations in the form of food and drinks to be packaged and distributed. However, he stated that this year there is a significant decline in cash donations. "The amount of money collected by the donations of 70 persons last year is now collected by the donations of 120 persons," Khaled said, adding that people who used to hand out LE1,000 are now giving LE600. Consequently, Khaled was not able to distribute the same amount of meals he distributed last year. Last year he distributed more than 100 meals per day, but this year he is not meeting this target. But it is not only Khaled and his friends who have suffered from a shortage in donations as many charitable organisations are having a hard time as well. Manar El-Khadragi, founder of Qabas Min Nour organisation, a charity foundation, stated that her foundation is suffering from a sharp decline in resources. She pointed out that both money and food donations have declined this year: "Last year, I had 15,000 Ramadan bags to distribute, but so far this year I only had 700 bags." The Ramadan bag is a common way for charity giving in Ramadan where it contains basic food needs and is distributed to poor families. She attributed this to the country's current economic hardships but added that some people and organisations are also directing their money to the political arena and the newfound political parties. But some people are better off. According to Hala Adel, owner of Sara Foundation for charitable activities, people did not stop donating this year, despite the deteriorating economic conditions. "People are not short on donations especially in Ramadan. There are a lot of people who are keen on giving," she told Ahram. However, she said that people who used charity in previous years to achieve certain political gains have disappeared this year. Nonetheless, as far as Adel is concerned, business is as usual and her resources have not been affected. The January 25 Revolution and the consequent economic hardships might have affected people's charity giving, but many think it has forged a heightened sense of social responsibility and helping one another. Mustafa Zamzam, media consultant at Dar Al-Orman charity organisation, said that he has noticed a stronger social reasonability among people this year. "People have become increasingly committed to Zakat Al-Fitr," he says. "Consequently, we have increased the number of charity packages, which contain basic food for the poor, from 50,000 in 2010 to 100,000 in 2011." He acknowledged that there was a 10 to 15 per cent decline in donations received by his organisation before the advent of Ramadan compared to last year.With the beginning of the holy month, however, donations increased and things were back to normal. In addition, he said that he has seen a wonderful participation by the youth this year in the charity business. As well as donating, voluntary work also constitutes charity. "The organisation has received 3,000 volunteers this year carrying out all the charitable activities of the organisation." According to Zamzam, this was in addition to the great demand on Dar Al-Orman's charity project which aims at helping the poorest 500 villages across Egypt through establishing the needed infrastructure projects. The project was kicked off three years ago and the organisation has succeeded in aiding 76 villages and plans to reach its 500 villages target by 2020. "Our project has witnessed a demand boost this year, and we believe that people's donations would increase over the coming period," Zamzam said.
